Early in the fall of my junior year in high school, my teammates and I at University High School were about to play Temple High for their annual homecoming football game. Temple was the reigning state champions and they were poised to have another championship season. To say they were a good football team would be like saying  Michael Jordan was a good basketball player, a monumental understatement. They were well-coached, disciplined, and loaded with talent, producing scores of blue chip players each year. As for my team, well, we were not very good. In fact, we hadn’t won a district game in two years and the prospects for winning a game that season were very low.

Minutes before taking the field, our head coach entered the locker room and gave the most inspirational speech I’d ever heard. He gave an emotion-filled, detailed account of the battle between biblical characters David and Goliath. When he finished, the room went silent. Then, one of our team captains jumped up onto the bench in front of his locker and yelled out, “We are David!” The rest of us then repeated, “We are David!” The chant continued as we exited the locker room. We took the field hyped up, confident, and absolutely convinced that we would win the game.

Well, as many expected, Temple beat us like we stole something. It was horrible. Their offense scored every time they touched the ball and conversely, our offense never crossed our own 30 yard line. But for a minute, maybe even a quarter of the game, we fought gallantly… and believed that victory was within our grasp. 

I’ll never forget those moments before that game – the exhilarating feeling that comes with having the opportunity to compete – that feeling of hope for victory, despite the odds. That feeling is why I love the game.

This Saturday, our Bears will suit up for the first football game of their 2018 season. They, along with their other fellow fall sports participants have worked extremely hard in the off-season, and they are all excited about the prospects of what lies ahead of them.  Unlike my high school team, these Baylor Bears are the real deal and there is much evidence to justify their excitement.

As letterwinners, you and I can be active participants in the Baylor athletics family through the Baylor “B” Association. I invite you to come back home to show your support to our outstanding student-athletes this year, and let’s share in all the excitement together.

Sic ‘em!

Walter Abercrombie
Executive Director, Baylor “B” Association