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By: Shawn Ingle
How do you compare a team from the past? How do you compare a team from one era to a team from another? Top 100 lists are coming out all the time ranking teams from history, but what it comes down to is a little history research and a lot of the opinion of the author of the list. If I was to write an article, or compile a list of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL, the top of my list would differ from most people. That is what makes sports so great. There is no clear cut right or wrong answer in these debates.
Sports debates around water coolers have been taking place for decades. I would bet these debates have been taking place long before there were water coolers. Who is better? Is it the 2002, State Champion BlueJays, or is it the 2007, 8-0, dominating everyone BlueJays? That is the question every BlueJay football fan in Guthrie has pondered at one time, or another this season.
Most of these debates of different eras come down to researching the stats of each team. Then you have to compare the competition of the opponents to put the stats into perspective. What people remember the most is what they have seen most recently. The statistics that the 2007 BlueJays are compiling are truly mind boggling. In 30 years, if someone is to research the BlueJay football teams there is no doubt in my mind this version of the BlueJays will rank at the top, or near the top of every list.
So that brings us back to this debate. 2002 or 2007 that is the question. Most people having this argument probably saw both teams in person and still remember that 2002 team. I could compare the statistics and break down position by position and I am sure the 2007 version would come out on top. That is what they call winning the game on paper. It is easy to say the 2007 version is better. Statistics can be quoted to back up all your arguments.
The 2002 team did not have the running game options that the 2007 team has. Everyone on the opposing teams knew if Guthrie was going to run the football it would be Demarko running it. He didn’t have a Josh King or Clayton Smith to hand off. The 2002 version did not have playmakers on both sides of the ball as abundant as the 2007 version. In a previous article on this subject, Craig “Stat Man” Fleck broke it down position by position and at the end of all that he had five check marks for the 2002 team and five for the 2007 team. He took a “wait and see” approach.
What separates the two at this point? That brings us to the X factor, something that can’t be measured or recorded on paper. This is something we won’t know until the end of this season. We know the 2002 version had it. This X factor that I am referring to is, HEART! The 2002 BlueJays just refused to lose. They were underdogs in three of the four playoff games they played, but somehow, someway someone on the team would make a play and the BlueJays would get the victory. Heart can’t be coached or taught. It is something you are born with. Either you have it or you don’t. Some players just “want it” more than others. That is where the 2002 version excelled.
At this point, until this 2007 version brings Guthrie their 2nd State Championship, I am going to proclaim the 2002 State Champion BlueJays the greatest team to come out of Guthrie High School.
By the way, if you were wondering who would top my list of greatest NFL running backs ever? It would be the NFLs all-time rushing leader, Emmitt Smith. Emmitt also possessed the X factor.