Good to see Coach Barrett

I wrote yesterday that I planned to attend my first Northwest game since I last played 21 years ago.

The game was on the road, so I didn't necessarily expect to see anyone I knew.

I walked in with my mother and my daughter and, not 20 paces in, we ran into Coach Barrett.

Joe Barrett played for Northwest in the late 1970s and returned in 1987 to coach my JV team. We went 5-4 that year (although it should have been 6-3 but I muffed a field goal on the last play of the game against Columbia Central -- a not-so-fond memory that coach and I revisited Friday).

Barrett was the assistant varsity coach under Duane Kaiser during my senior year in 1989 and then he took over the program in 1990 and ran it for much of the decade.

His 1993 squad was one of only two since 1980 to go 7-2 (The other being the 1982 team).

Seeing him again made me realize that, while the Northwest football program has its challenges, the game and the memories that live on still mean a lot to those who suit up.

The connections made through hours of practice and the intense focus of the games are deep.

That was obvious to me tonight. It didn't feel like it had been 21 years since I last saw Coach Barrett. In no time, we were each ticking off names, games and even plays (such as the infamous missed field goal) that we both remembered.

Northwest may not have the strongest football tradition, but it's there and it lives on within the individuals who once played the game and with those, such as coaches, parents and fans, who shared a close connection.