By JIM STEELE

I remember back in the spring of 1977, McKenzie had a decent baseball team with some decent players. I was a sophomore member of that team.

We were very sure of ourselves, even though we really hadn't done a whole lot to warrant that surety. We had lost a 13-inning game at Trenton where we led 6-5 with two outs in the seventh. The game ended on the bad end, 7-6.

Toward the middle-end of the season, we hosted Big Sandy, a team we had beaten easily at its place. We took the field, saw those red and white uniforms and figured we had this game won. Big Sandy never beats us, it should be over in three innings.

When it was over, the scoreboard said Big Sandy 7, McKenzie 4. It may have been the last time McKenzie lost to Big Sandy. I can't remember a time in between where we had. I can recall a shocked and sick feeling when we lost. I seem to remember that loss better than the 6-2 loss we suffered to Dyer, which was my last high school game.

The next day, I schlepped into homeroom before school started and my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Karen Camp, whose husband, incidentally, was our coach, looked at me with sort of a scornful smile on her face.

"You look like you didn't sleep much either last night, did you?" she queried. I told her that I had tossed and turned a bit.

"You guys figured you could just throw the pinstripes on the field and win yesterday, didn't you?" she mused (McKenzie had red pants with white pinstripes in those days). I conceded that she was right. We figured Big Sandy was just one of those formalities. The outcome was fait accompli, only the final score was in doubt. Then we had our backsides handed to us on a platter with all the trimmings. It was embarrasing.

We didn't take Big Sandy seriously, we had crappy attitudes and it cost us. Coach Camp was a good coach, but we were about a .500 team that year.

We could excoriate the 2008 Rebels for the effort against Gleason. Those who don't know will see this as an awful, embarrasing loss. It was and wasn't. Those who know anything about Gleason and its coach, Mike Bennett, will know that when there is a modicum of talent there, the Bulldogs are pretty darned good. Bennett has been one of the finest baseball coaches in West Tennessee. I know, I've covered them on and off for 25 seasons.

But the thing is, McKenzie is supposed to be a championship program. It has that state title sign hanging up behind the press box. There are a lot of these guys lugging around rings from two years ago. Being a championship-caliber team comes with a responsibility. This team has been touted for the last two years as having tons of potential. Well, good is as good does.

These guys have played together for a long time. The sports website posts talk about how this team will have a red carpet laid out for it to a state championship. But the attitude on this team hasn't been what it should be. Maybe there is friction. Okay, fine, but this is what you have. Set aside differences and make yourselves better. Play ball. There is a lot of questioning, second-guessing, moaning, complaining and crap that won't quit. Several of the players on the championship team have even talked to me unsolicited and at length about the lousy attitude. They want this team to do well and have even voiced concern.

What this Gleason loss should be is a wake-up call. This crew is touted to be "all that," in teeny-bopper parlance. But the facts are these: This team has lost to Greenfield, Bruceton and Gleason on its homefield with this leadership core over the past two years. This doesn't happen to championship-caliber teams. Preparation has been sloppy and the effort hasn't been there. This doesn't happen to championship-caliber teams. The core leadership of this team would be validated for being disgruntled if it had been winning. But this core leadership has played in 51 baseball games since taking over. Their record? 27-24. Three above .500. This club has no business complaining or challenging decisions until it starts winning consistently. You get what you earned and thus far they haven't earned that right.

The worst thing about this loss is that people don't realize how good Gleason is, so it will go down as a damnng indictment of the Rebs. Even worse, it was played in front of coaches from Huntingdon and Bruceton and it will appear on numerous websites and regional publications.

There's no point in rubbing it in anymore. The kids probably feel worse about this than do any of the fans. And the season isn't toast. There is so much left to play for and McKenzie can recover. Many will recall in 2006 how McKenzie barely beat Bruceton at home in the 13A finale then lost at Dresden. It wasn't the best way to head into substate. But McKenzie got it done and won it all. It can happen again, but these guys are going to have look in the mirror and ask themselves if they have what it takes to be a championship-caliber team.

When you wear the rings and put on those red jerseys, it's like a giant target on the back. The Gleasons, Clarksburgs, Greenfields of the world salivate at the prospect of knocking off McKenzie. Whether it's the Red Sox or Bluebird Girls Academy, the Rebels had better be ready to play every single game and never take anything for granted.

If the Rebs manage this loss well and use it as a wake-up call, they have the chops to go a long way. The pitching is solid and deep. We have good hitters on this team, but the weather takes its toll on timing. We have guys who have played this game before and for a long time. This crew crystallized into a quality baseball team when the season ended at substate last year. I've had in the back of my mind that this group could make it back to the 'Boro and battle for a state title. I still believe this team could. I'm planning on it and have already made tentative travel plans when we do. Notice I said "when."

But if attitudes don't change and these guys don't get more serious, or they fold the tents as a result of this loss, Bruceton could field its cheerleaders tonight and give the Rebels a hassle. Villify me if you must for recognizing these facts, but I think this team is capable of much, much better.

I still have faith in this team. It is capable of better. But Mrs. Camp was right, it takes more than just showing up to have a quality baseball program. This team needs to forge its own legacy and own its posterity. If they can't do it, they need only look in the mirror to affix the blame.