The Winning Team at McAuley Catholic

            On the night of the 13th of September, the McAuley Catholic football team prepared themselves for a homecoming battle with the Miller Cardinals at the Missouri Southern State University football field. Not only was this football game one of the first of the season, but a win would place McAuley Catholic in a high district position.
             After a hard fought, two hour game, the McAuley football team won the game and ran through a tunnel of screaming fans and parents back into the locker room under the home bleachers. The sight, sounds, and smells of the athletes running back into the locker room at the end of the game was something to remember. The locker room; a strange place, engulfing the team's emotions and letting them vent out like steam.
             The men's locker room at MSSU, once the gathering spot during home games for the MSSU Lions, is fairly small in comparison to other university locker rooms. It's not much bigger than a large storage closet with a bathroom and a shower, and besides being a place for the guys to clean-up and change, the room also holds field equipment, the athlete's belongings and chairs. It's tight. Cramped. But not even the crowded quarters of the room could stop the team from yelling and jumping after their victory. .
             There wasn't a player or coach who wasn't smiling and holding their head high with pride, knowing that they had just out-played and out-coached another very good football team. The night's events had everyone in the locker room in a great mood; much different than that of the previous week. The locker room reverberated with laughing, whooping and hand slaps. The sounds of the athletes' cleats and pads hitting the floor also added to the mix, but the overall winning feeling overtook everything and made the locker room feel like the Nokia Theatre during the Emmy's. Everyone had a smile on their faces and the room seemed to beam a little brighter that night.