Oh my! What a weekend. It was great. Eight great football teams and their communities; great football; great players/coaches; enthusiastic crowds; seeing numerous old friends and football fans from all over the state, jacked up to see high level competition. We are off and running. Oh man this is great! Great fun; great competition; what a great weekend for football!

Then in a flash, we were informed of the tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut. I cannot explain how we felt. I would say it was much like a punch to the stomach where you cannot gasp your breath. We all felt so removed from what was happening and that the games we were playing all of a sudden became less important.

It's a strange thing, that when things like this happen; sometimes a past experience, a word, a friend, a situation pops into your head to give you some sort of consolation. What hit me was a song from the 1954 film, White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, written by Irving Berlin. The song was Count Your Blessings. The last stanza comes to life.

If you're worried and you can't sleep;
Just count your blessings instead of sheep.
And you'll fall asleep;
Counting your blessings.

It is a blessing to be involved with young people and be part of their experience to excel; to achieve; to succeed. The lessons learned are not in the results, but in the journey. The blessings lived on the road to success are the lessons learned of failure and achievement.

Success has been defined as getting up one more time than you've been knocked down. Let me thank all of you that have made the journey. We are honored to be able to achieve it with you.

As we stand upon the precipice of the Christmas season, we thank all of you who have been part of our fall championships season. It was fabulous! We are giddy with anticipation about all the great achievements that will occur this winter sports' season and we are filled with excitement to be part of them and serve you.

We wish you good health, good fellowship and a conviction to the voice in your soul. The voice that leads us all on the path to success and keeps us attempting to achieve all things good, prosperous and right. We believe that lives built upon family, faith and friends cannot be forsaken. May God bless you and keep you on this journey.

All of us at PIAA wish you the happiest of Christmas seasons with good health and prosperity for the New Year. Happy Holidays!