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The Pursuit of Perfection

The following article by Aaron Z. Rios, a member of the Mullen High School football team, originally appeared in the publication The Mullen Media and is being reposted on CBSDenver.com with permission.

What is perfection? One might say that the Mullen Mustangs were perfect through 34 games before September 9, 2011. The truth is the team was not perfect through those games. They were undefeated. There is a huge difference between the two. Undefeated teams do not lose, but they do make mistakes. A perfect team makes no mistakes. In all honesty, the mystique of any human endeavor is pushing oneself to perfection. That perfection may be unattainable, as with memorizing pi to its last digit (it is a never ending number). That perfection may be attainable based on the judgments of others, as in a gymnastics routine or a dive. Sometimes, perfection is so abstract and unattainable that the only way for a sport to gage success is to compete. Football is one of these sports. Perfection is impossible in football. There are too many variables. In order to manage to obtain the label undefeated is to make less mistakes than the opposition. Mullen was able to accomplish this goal through 34 competitions. Friday night, they failed to accomplish this task. However, this does not go to say that Mullen has lost the ability to minimize mistakes. Competition results are what matter. Rankings and past results do not matter when a competition takes place. If rankings and past results were the only thing that mattered, Mullen would have emerged from Legacy Stadium victorious Friday night. This was not the case. Week 2 of the CHSAA football season is over. However, there are many weeks of football to look forward to. Mullen's football program was able to recover from a loss in 2008. A loss to Grandview High School at Legacy Stadium. For those who do not remember what happened after that loss, allow the writer to reiterate. After this loss, the Mullen Mustangs managed to make themselves undefeated through 34 competitions. Mullen can recover from losses. The key to recovery is that Mullen be able to use this setback as a motivation and humbling reminder that no team can ever achieve perfection in football. Mullen may not be undefeated anymore, but this does not mean the pursuit of perfection cannot be continued. One thing is sure. As long as the Mullen Mustangs exist, we will not waver in our pursuit of perfection. WE ARE GOD'S CHILDREN. WE ARE ONE FAMILY. WE ARE MULLEN!!!

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