I’ve never been a guy that would be described as a bandwagon-jumper.
In fact, I normally favor the underdogs when it comes to viewing athletic contests because it’s much more satisfying to see a team buck the odds and pull off an upset.
With that being made public, I now have to come clean about something.
After taking in the Luverne-Breck girls’ hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center Feb. 19, I became a fan of the Mustangs and their coaching staff.
It was a strange position to find myself in, considering Breck captured its third consecutive Class A title before the weekend was complete.
The Mustangs were the tournament’s No. 1 seed and proved why they were worthy of that status by winning three consecutive games by a combined score of 23-2.
As leaders of the team, Mustangs’ head coach Steve Persian and assistant coach Mike Umland were committed to the cause of capturing a championship.
That became evident after sharing a brief conversation with them that started with me asking if they were going to take it easy on the Cardinals.
“Not in the first period,” was the reply I received from Persian.
That became clear during the first 17 minutes of play, when the talented Mustangs scored eight goals in a span of 13:44 to seize control of the contest.
I was a shell-shocked spectator at that point, but what happened next is something that probably will stick with me for the rest of my life.
As I was waiting for the second period in the photographer’s box between the team benches, the Breck coaches approached me to deliver a message.
“That’s it. We’re done shooting the puck,” Umland announced.
With that brief statement, some of my faith in humanity was restored.
It became clear to me the Mustangs could have scored as many goals as they wanted to, but the coaches and captains of the team decided eight was enough.
“We have faced some overmatched teams during the season, but there is no point in running up the score against them,” Persian said after the game.
In hindsight, that may have been one of the greatest examples of sportsmanship I’ve ever witnessed.
The Mustangs accomplished what they needed to in the first 17 minutes of play, and they had no reason to pile on the Cardinals and their fans by senselessly trying to score more goals.
I appreciated their integrity and told them that probably was the classiest thing I’ve witnessed in 30-plus years of being a sports editor.
What I learned from the Breck coaches is that nothing good comes from shredding the oppontents’ dignity, and I hope our coaches, both boys and girls, keep that in mind when their teams are in control of a game in the future.