State championships clear away the jaded haze

It's easy to get jaded and roll your eyes every time someone says that amateur athletics, at any level, is as much about the athletes as the athletics. That it's more about producing good human beings than winning performances.

Too often coaches are hired or fired or forced out because they didn't win enough games. Fans cheer for victories on the floor, not in the locker room. Parents demand to know why little Johnny or Jane isn't playing more often (forget about lessons that life isn't always fair, and even when it is that doesn't mean it's equal) while berating referees whose calls affect only one bottom line -- results.

That's not always the scenario, or even necessarily the majority, but it's still too common.

But a trip to the MSHSAA basketball final four this past weekend offered reminders that scrub away (at least some) disillusionment.

The best stories of the weekend were those of father/child-coach/player partnerships and health scares or injuries overcome -- those who played under the bright lights at Mizzou arena with a fresh understanding that neither life nor basketball is guaranteed.

The best stories came from the understanding of a bigger picture -- the ability of a player to crack a smile or bust a dance move on the media room floor even after suffering a loss.

Regardless of whether you were a champion or a fourth-place team or somewhere in between, bittersweet tears leveled the playing field for every coach and player once the games were said and done. Those tears didn't care about wins or losses or playing time or any of the other things that can leave a hazy residue on the supposed purity of high school athletics.

The end tends to have that effect on things.

For many, it was the last time that they would pull on a uniform with their coach and teammates, and that is what steered the conversation.

The Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team's run to the season's final weekend was, for them, as much about getting a few more days to pass a basketball to each other as it was about lifting a trophy. And that type of sentiment was not unique to the Crusaders.

After his team won a fourth consecutive state title, Crane girls basketball coach Jeremy Mullins said, "They'll tell stories about these girls."

Every community represented in Columbia will tell stories, and they won't always include a win-loss record. It is the other stories that offer a much needed and welcome reminder.

Yes, the state championships are about winning games, but they also shined a light on the other things that matter just as much.