Streaks...

Friday, Sept. 16 - I've finally posted results for the Sept. 13th meet, but my laptop has ceased to function, and I don't know when I'll be able to retrieve the story I wrote Tuesday night. Maybe over the weekend I'll be able to solve the problem and start posting pictures and results from today's meet in a more timely manner.

But you can't help wonder whether we'll even get a meet in this afternoon. The forecast is for a few showers starting around 1 p.m., and then showers throughout the afternoon. It's not the threat of rain that bothers most of us, it's the uncertainty.

We can hardly complain. We had a streak of something like four weeks where every day seemed stamped out of the template, sunny and cloudless. Lawns and gardens were parched, water levels in lakes and ponds dropped, and XC courses became hard as concrete. That streak of sunny days was bound to end sometime.

At least for NNHS, the meet itself holds no special significance. Milton is not a strong team and both the Boys and Girls should win easily, if they get a chance to run. I feel sorry for the teams from Wellesley and Weymouth who have to prepare for a big meet and might very well be forced to postpone it.

Oh , wait, I forgot that at today's meet, the NNHS Boys team is hoping to celeberate their 100th straight victory (going back five years in XC, indoor, and outdoor track). Impressive as it is, I'm having a hard time getting excited about the milestone. First of all, I'm a little suspicious about streaks and their importance. Taking care of a streak tends to divert one's focus away from other things, for example, for preparing for the EMass and State-level post-season. It's all a matter of priorities, I guess, and I wouldn't like to see this streak become the top priority for the Boys' program.

I remember 2001, my first year as an assistant coach, and how exciting it was to beat Natick 28-30 in a meet that few people thought we could win. The win against Natick on October 2 made the team 4-0, and was (by my reckoning) the 6th straight win for the program (The team won the final two meets of 2000). The Boys finished 11-0 in 2001, 12-0 in 2002, 11-0 in 2003, and 11-0 in 2004 = 2 + 45 = 47 straight wins in XC. With the season opening sweep of Needham and Framingham, the streak is now 49.

But it seems that this year the streak is likely to come to an end. One of the three strongest teams in the league -- Weymouth, Wellesley, and Brookline -- seems sure to break the stranglehold the boys have had on the BSC. I, for one, am glad to have the excitement of such a challenge. Ever since that Natick meet in 2001, I have been looking forward to another nail-biter and a chance to upset the predicted outcome.

So the rain settles in... the streak of dry weather has finally ended. It's not only farmers that will tell you that rain is a good thing now and then.