10 Reasons Why We Love The Playoffs...

It's playoff time in Collin County and life is good - at least for those schools still playing. The playoffs are a celebration of fulfilled potential and a payoff for a season of success. Coaches and players who started preparing in the heat of the summer have somehow survived the regular season with one goal in mind - the playoffs. Playoff patches are earned for letter jackets. Fans have been waiting all season to earn bragging rights and take their spirit on the road. But amidst the school pageantry that seems even more colorful come playoff time, lies an intense, almost life-and-death drama. In the hearts of the coaches, players and fans lies a realization: It's not enough just to make the playoffs. It's a state tournament that everyone wants to be invited to, but no one wants to get booted from. It's a nerve-wracking journey of which legends - good and bad - are born. Everything is magnified in the playoffs, and we think that's a good thing. If any critics out there still wonder why the University Interscholastic League expanded the playoff system to include more teams, let us change your mind: 10. Road Trips While every coach hopes to play every playoff game at home, the UIL's intricate maze of home-and-home rules and tiebreakers rarely allows for such a luxury. But is playing on the road really a bad thing? Not when it gives fans, bands and other supporters a chance to caravan down to such exotic locales as Austin, Houston, San Antonio or Waco. There's nothing like packing everyone into the family truckster, adorned with shoe polished spirit slogans and school colored ribbons, and driving to the big game. Road trips offer the opportunity to visit new tourist stops, try the chow at unusual greasy spoons and give thumbs up or down to interstate restrooms; all-important experiences that make our trip to state unforgettable. 9. Long Distance Rivalries Sure, Allen and Southlake are less than an hour's drive from each other, but their paths never would have crossed without playoffs. Legendary rivalries like Plano-Katy, Celina-Elysian Fields and Plano East-Tyler John Tyler are born and continue to thrive even though they may go years without playing each other. 8. Brackets We can't wait to open a sports section that reveals those wondrously linear brackets that map out our team's path to glory. Brackets are simple while seemingly complex. A state's worth of schools held up by thin lines connected to a final destination. Brackets tease us with the next opponent's name and record without divulging their true strength. And if an upset occurs, they can be turned upside down and inside out. Best of all, brackets give everyone - coaches, players and fans - an excuse to push aside the cliché and look beyond our next opponent. 7. Dramatic Finishes Nov. 26, 1994. Does anyone who has ever rooted for Plano East not have this date etched into his or her brain? That's when East lost, then won, then lost perhaps the most dramatic game in state history. There's nothing like trailing 41-17 with three minutes remaining and scoring four touchdowns to take a lead only to have Tyler John Tyler return the ensuing kickoff for the win. Every school has a dramatic win or loss in their playoff resume. What's yours? 6. Throw Out All Records Dividing up playoff brackets by attendance figures has cut down on the David vs. Goliath match-ups, but there's always hope for the underdog in the postseason. Undefeated favorites do not kick off a playoff game against a .500 team with points on the scoreboard. Throw in a measure of unfamiliarity for coaches and you can throw out chalk predictions and brackets. Strange things happen in the playoffs. 5. Playing At The Big House Just when you thought your team's 18,000-seat home field was big, the playoffs open the doors to the biggest stadiums and venues in the state. Basketball and volleyball teams take the court at college arenas where their heroes play. Football teams run down the tunnel at Texas Stadium, Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium and the Alamodome. 4. Bands, Cheerleaders and Drill Teams The playoffs are no time to settle for regular-season spirit, so most teams would be one and done if they didn't have the band, cheerleaders and drill team filling the air with support. With U.I.L. competitions behind them, marching bands can cut loose with their favorite songs and patterns. Cheerleaders work up new cheers, while trying to keep their voices intact. Drill teams throw down new routines. Without these support groups, those playoff stadiums and arenas would seem awfully empty. 3. Making and Breaking History Teams make history in the playoffs. Some teams even make history just getting to the postseason. For example, take the Lovejoy Lady Leopards volleyball team that won the school's first district title. They lifted their school's spirits and identity, while establishing expectations for the future. Playoffs not only provide a goal for any team in any sport, they also exist as a benchmark of success. Coaches and fans also have a love-hate relationship with the postseason. Once you've made the playoffs, it's not enough just to get back there. You have to win in the playoffs, too. 2. Lose and You're Out There are no second chances in the playoffs. Last-second field goals and overtime three-pointers are more than spirit-lifting or heart-breaking finishes. They are life-changing moments. They can keep your state-title dreams alive for another week or send your team home for the year. For seniors, it's their last hurrah. For underclassmen, it's the beginning of high expectations that will rest on their shoulders. At least football ties no longer are determined by penetrations. 1. Memories Ask anyone who has played in, coached in or supported their beloved school's teams in the postseason what they love best about the playoffs, and watch for the twinkle in their eyes. Whether they ran down the field or cheered from the stands, most have never won a state title, but their hearts still warm to the thoughts of playoffs past. They have stories to share with their teammates at 20-year reunions and their children's children. So if you're still wondering what's so great about the playoffs, we say, see all of the above.