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I'm sure that some of you who have been following my blog about coaching flag football, by now have noticed that I've taken a special interest in one particular team: The Panthers. They are the only team thus far that has a win against us and more then likely this season will end with them being the only team to beat us. But that's not the reason why I have a vested interest in them. My interest was there before I even started my first practice it only grow after the loss.

Coach Parker is the coach of the Panthers for this season. During the summer he was the coach of the Saints which my 6 year old played for. Now Parker is a very good coach and he is very good with kids. During that season the rest of the parents and I were very impressed by him and his way of handling situations. Parker has a presence that demands respect so his kids are almost always under control. He never has to raise his voice with the kids, when they screw up he just calmly explains what they did wrong and they listen. Coach Parker also has a winning desire and a long winning streak to match. For at least 3 straight seasons (that I know of), coach Parker has not lost a game.

In my last blog I spoke about how teams emulate the characteristics of their coach. Coach Parker is layed back and no nonsense and his philosophy is simple: To win is to have fun. When his team plays they bring that character trait to the field. Another thing that is an attribute to his great winning streak is a weapon called Denzel.

As far as running with the ball, Denzel is more then likely the best and the fastest in the league. No matter where they are in the field, when Denzel gets the ball the chances of him making it to the end zone seems to be about 97%. When you watch him in action, you just can't help but to think about Barry Sanders in his prime. Denzel was playing for the Saints during the summer, he is playing for the Panthers this fall, and coach Parker still has yet to experience a loss.

My first coaching game was one of hard learned lessons. The first major lesson I learned was that watching on the sidelines is much different then coaching. We won the coin toss and had 1st possession of the ball. We started off very strong and for most of the 1st half we went toe to toe with the panthers, scoring with each possession and taking the lead each time. Everything was going good until they stopped us within two minutes of the 1st half ending. I lost my composure, thus my team lost their composure as well. Denzel scored 1 touchdown, they stopped us again, Denzel scored again and we didn't scoring for that game came to an abrupt end. If Denzel wasn't there the outcome might have been different, who knows. Wayne is a good enough coach to where I'm sure we would have had problems with or without Denzel on his team. Another error I made was keeping our best player stuck in the back as a quarterback when he should have been running with the ball and catching passes. The Chiefs had all the tools to win that game, and I feel that it was because of me we lost.

A lot has changed since that first game and our last game shows it. When we played against the steelers, they won the coin toss and for a good part of the 1st half they would score and get the lead with each possession. However, this time I didn't lose my composure and neither did my team. By the time half time came around we where up by 1 touchdown and the Steelers never got the lead again. Now I have 3 kids who are designated quarterbacks which causes confusion for the other teams and leaves my best players open to run and catch passes.

My interest in the Panthers is simple. Coach Parker is the coach I look up too, Denzel is the best kid in our division, and the Panthers are still undefeated. In the world of wrestling Rick Flair, the 16 times world heavyweight champ has a popular quote, 'To be the man, you've gotta beat the man.' I respect Coach Parker and really think he is a great guy, we don't have no beef with each other, but as I said before, I'm a highly competitive guy and I play to win. If you strive to be the best at anything you have to go after the best and right now coach Parker and the Panthers are the best. Another reason is because I believe I owe it to my kids after costing us that first loss.

As far as I'm concerned every game that we have will be nothing but practice for the inevitable championship match between the Panthers and the Chiefs. Losing will not be an option and when we win, it will be a bitter sweet victory. Sweet because the Chiefs would have beaten the undefeated Panthers; bitter because I would have beaten the coach I look up to. I can't wait for that glorious moment to arrive, in the mean time we'll continue to improve and set our eyes on the prize. Until next time, see ya!