Our back to school week concludes with a special Friday evening post. A testament to those nights behind the school, under the lights, on a hundred-yard stretch of grass carved out of the cornfields. And the pluck and fight of a group of boys who just cannot win. And their coaches, who cannot be the heroes. High school success is easy to deal with. (What comes after might be harder.)

But what about failure? What about knowing that this is as good as it gets – and you and everyone around you is lousy at it? And what if the grownups in charge are as hopeless and doomed as you are?

That’s right. It’s Object #1 – The Padlock:

I looked around. It was raining hard now. Everyone else was gone, headed back to the locker room. It was only me, and Coach Ditka, and a desperate man engaged in the struggle of his life.

“Let’s go, Cold Ones,” Coach Ditka said. “Get it done.”

We’ll get back to some writers laughing and other assorted content now. But first, good luck to all those students out there. Hope you have a fantastic academic year!