It's not about doing it again; it's about doing it better.

The college football season doesn’t start when the lights are turned on and the t.v. stations show up with the fans, it starts long before anyone is watching. Some think the season starts in August when the team reports for camp and the freshman come to campus. Some think it starts in the spring when you get to practice again. But if you want to be a great football team you can’t just show up for the practices or for the season. The real season starts the day after the previous season ends and finishes when the final whistle blows in your last game. The football season is a 365 day long test of character and commitment. During the season most people only see the games and the record of their team. But for a football team to be successful there is much more involved than just playing the games. The season before the season is where championships are won or lost. It’s where teams go from good to great. The amount of effort and energy put in during this time is critical to the success of the team. It’s what teams do when no one is watching and the t.v. stations are not there and the fans are at home that makes the difference. It’s the character of the team that leads to championships.

In 2007 the Harvard Crimson football team beat every oponent in the Ivy League and posted a record of 8-2 and a “perfect” 7-0 in the conference. This set the bar very high for the 2008 team and presented the Crimson with one of the toughest challenges any team can face, defending the conference championship. Where does a team go after you win the championship? And the answer is very simple, you either get better or you get worst, you never stay the same. So Harvard had to take a different approach to the 2008 season. They knew if they just showed up with the same mentality as the 2007 team did than teams they played would be ready and could beat them. But they didn’t just want to show up and win the championship again; they wanted to do it better. It’s not about repeating as a conference champ, it’s about building off that momentum and getting better as a team. That was the 2008 Crimson attitude from the very first day of the 365 day season. They worked to get better as individuals to ultimately make the team better. And when it came time to play those games the Crimson were prepared winning back to back Ivy League Championships with a record on 9-1 on the season, a little better than last year.

-Joe V