Faith and Timber Lake are always strong. Lemmon is new to the conference and is an unknown for us. We should be competitive enough to be in the hunt.

Faith has numbers and good athletes. Timber Lake and McIntosh will also put together good teams.

When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly.

It's been coming for a while since the reduction of scholarships. This conference has a very strong sense of itself, because of the coaches who have been here for a long time. The nature of the game now, especially in the west, is the throwing game. It's a game of space, which takes some of the physical aspects out of it.

Have you ever made the world stand still before?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means making a conscious decision to leave the world behind, just for a little bit. To improve yourself and improve the world at the same time. To make yourself move better, and the world move better, when you come back to it. You have to make sure that no one and nothing causes you any problems during that time. Read a good book, watch good movies and above all, enjoy good conversation with someone who inspires you. And you know what?"

"What?", I said, excited and intrigued.

"Then the world gives you a reward. The universe moves in favour of those who move it. And the ones who move it are the ones who know how to make it stand still. Do you want to move the world, or do you want the world to move you?

This is a strong team, even stronger than we had four years ago. Those who were rookies in Salt Lake have developed into real performers now, and our first-timers in 2006 are poised for some very noteworthy results themselves, which we can continue to build from.