After Further Review...

At some point in most NFL games, you will hear an official state the following:  “After further review, the ruling…”  This is in response to a call by a game official being challenged or the replay booth official believes the play should be reviewed so that the absolute right call can be made.  The referee usually retreats to a small replay machine under cover while he looks at the play again.  Football is not the only sport that reviews human decisions. “The previous play is being reviewed” is growing more and more while taking more and more of the “human element” out of the equation.  When I was a kid, we had our own sort of replay booth at the neighborhood Park.  This was called a discussion, which was sometimes a heated one over a fair or foul ball, whether a touchdown pass was really in bounds, or if the other player had a “R” or an “S” in H-O-R-S-E.  After considerable bickering, the result was something called a “Do-Over.” “Do-Overs” would be loudly announced if it was in your favor or barely audible if you were getting the short end of the stick.  Throughout the years, we may have had a lot of “Do-Overs” in areas too numerous to list.  Maybe you were on the good end or bad end of a “Do-Over”, but either way, you experienced at least one.

Make no mistake – kids don’t get “Do-Overs” in school.   Kids get one chance under our tutelage…or do we get one chance with them?  36 weeks to make a difference in a kid that you may never work with again.  That 36 weeks quickly turns to 35, then 18, then 9 and before you know it, they move on.  You will get another group next year.  They won’t.  Most kids will be in your class only one time.  You get that time span and that time span only to make a difference.  There are no “Do-Overs”.  That is why I consistently implore you to make the most of every opportunity that you have with kids. You can make them or break them.  You can mold them or let them be shapeless.  You can prepare them for what lies ahead or let them sink.  Either way, it has to be a choice by you.  Yes, you have to choose to make a difference; difference-makers do not happen because of luck.  It is an intentional decision.  Every day is another opportunity to make a difference.  At the end, there are no “Do-Overs.”  You will want to hear from these kids down the road that you did indeed make a difference in their lives.  And yes, confident that you have made a difference and, after further review, the ruling stands.