Tales from the 'Ship ...

EMPORIA, Kan. - Essentials for a trip to the ship: 1. Big-ass headphones. 2. Biggie Smalls - Big Poppa. 3. at least enough rhythm to do the wave bounce from Hardball.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll never take a trip to the ship. But that's your loss. Okay, in all seriousness ...

I think there's one thing I won't miss when my time working for Kit the Car, Knight Ridder, is over: watching kids you spend a lot of time around lose the big game.

It weird because you get to know people, and though you still have to be objective, you take losses personally. It's one thing to watch a marginal wrestler walk off the mat after losing a quarterfinal match to a three-time state champion and start crying.

But watching a team that actually had a chance to "win it all," stumble ... man, you can't help but feel for the kids. They walk around with the I'm-bigger-than-life attitudes, and their season they worked up to this climax comes crashing down in a matter of hours.

Watching them lose it is akin to the feeling you get when a friend or relative dies. It's not on that level, but it's a bit of a traumatic experience. In the last week, I've seen two losses like that, and don't want any more.

But there's nothing like that innocent moment when the team starts to chant "We're going to the ship! We're going to the Ship!" Those are the moments I live for. ...