I would love to get to the finals and play Nixa. That would be good for both schools, meaning we both made it.

Perhaps it’s true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house—the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture—must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for. Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Imbued with new meaning. Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story.

The discrepancy there is that alternative schools were previously exempted from the grading process. The district, in the year 2003-2004, exempted its alternative schools from the grading process. They failed to exempt the alternative schools that are charter schools. And it was just an oversight on the part of the district. All alternative schools in the district couldn't possibly have received an F because they didn't get graded in 2003-2004.

It's nothing against those schools at all. Coaches just would rather take a 10-minute drive to play. But the UIL looks at the bigger picture. They see the West Texas teams that have to travel long distances and they say our area doesn't have it that bad.

Some schools don't play their starters on special teams.

The other schools that are interested are Division III, but I know I can play at the Division II level.