The boys' state meet has arrived, and if the sectional results are any indication of what's to come we are in for a good one. I haven't recovered from last weeks girls state meet, which was full of upsets, shock, and perseverance. We can only hope the weather works with us again.
The number one question of the whole state meet in my opinion, 'is the health of Plainfield North superstar Marcellus Moore going to be the story of the weekend?' He's been real quiet the last couple of weeks. When that happens the athlete is really hurt or they're in "The Lab" fine-tuning and tightening everything up. There is usually an unleashing party when one comes out of the lab. It happened with my junior high school girl "Legend" several weeks ago. It also happened last weekend with Taylor Gilling of Highland Park in the 100m and 200m. And I believe this weekend, in my opinion, it will happen with 'Baby Holyfield.'
I was in the same boat in 1986, but the difference was I couldn't even walk the week of the state championship. There was no practice all week- just icing and doctor appointments. We still didn't know until the prelims of the 4x100 if my leg would work. And I was the best in the state coming in just like Marcellus. And to make matters worse, somehow the Chicago Tribune got the word that I was crippled. I still do not know how they found out.
The way Marcellus warms up, every start, stride length even the way he walks after each race will be watched by every fan and examined by each person in the stadium. My advice to the rest of the field is press him, make him run. Let's see if he'shealed. But I'm telling you all now and you're hearing it here first, he's been in the lab, and won't risk his reputation if he's truly not ready. He will not allow someone to put a feather in their cap. I believe each race he'll turn it up a little more than the previous one. Marcellus Moore will be ready!
Class 3A brings us Crete-Monee. They won me over at the Top Times during the conclusion of the indoor season. Winning me over is a hard thing to do, but they have. They have an ol' skool throwback style, and they perform. The sectional meet they ran two IL #1's in the 4x1 and the 4x2 with times of 41.12 and 1:26.29. If the weather holds up, we could be watching history in both. Bloom Township was breathing on their necks in the 4x2 at 1:26.37. The Warriors released Jamal Safo in the long jump who has gone 25'0"- so this could be really interesting.
Let's backlog to 2A and East St Louis Sr. The real "Title Town" crew is coming in on a mission. The football team went to the quarterfinals and the basketball team won the state crown. The girls were champions last weekend, and I predict the boys will close the show. They have been big time all year long, make that national big time. They kicked it off at New Balance Nationals Indoor. They've cleaned up in Louisiana, and Kansas Relays. The Flyers have been led by the great Willie "Easy Work" Johnson. I'm giving him that nickname if he doesn't have one, because he makes his races look easy. They will grace us with their Cheetos Orange bodysuits and it could be over quickly. They've waited a year for this meet, as there was drama last year at the conference meet. The drama kept the Flyers out the state meet, and I believe there will be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing by the other teams in 2A.
This is my personal plea to EVERYONE in the meet. I wanted to say it last week, but the ladies handled it. I need some performances. I'm tired of hearing about Texas ran this and Texas ran that. Let's make some national noise as a state and have the whole country asking the question... "how?" It's always cold and raining there. We're one of the top states in the U.S. EVERY YEAR. It's time to let them see a show. Good Luck to everyone this weekend.
