If there is one thing the people of Oklahoma are passionate about it is football. From peewee to college we support our Oklahoma football teams and all that accompanies the game. On Friday nights our local stadiums are filled as we watch our teams take the gridiron to compete. Bands, cheerleaders, students, parents, grandparents and fans fill the stands, hot or cold, rain or snow to enjoy the spectacle that is football.
Nothing is more exciting than when two rival teams meet to see who will take home the bragging rights for a year. When the Sand Springs and Sapulpa teams met this year for the Highway 97 Rivalry, the team and the fans were ready for a game. The week leading up to this great game is often know as “Hate Week.” There is not a lot of love being shown on the field.
This year, both teams showed more than “hate” for the other team. Just before the rivalry kicked off a few Fridays back, Swift Myers, a 2016 graduate from Sand Springs passed away. Swift had been battling cancer since he was in 7th grade. Swift had recently made the news because he married his high school sweetheart in his hospital room. When the game kicked off, both sides hung banners around the stadium that read, “Swift Strong.” The game was played, but this year it ended differently. No one returned to the locker room or the bus. Students, teachers and parents from both sides of this rivalry gathered in the middle of the field to pray, cry and celebrate the life of a young man who had been such an example to so many as he battled cancer.
Friday nights in Oklahoma are often reserved for football, but on this night the students of Sand Springs and Sapulpa reminded us that the one thing that really makes a difference is not a sporting event, but the people who are in our lives. Swift lived a courageous life and obviously had many friends. Even though his cancer had returned toward the end of his senior year, he lived his life to the fullest. The two schools finished this night, not with a celebration of a game, but a celebration of life, because life, and our relationships with one another are what truly matter most.
Rev. Keith King, Online Campus Pastor
