Birmingham shined bright, and now will do so always

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The 10 state commissioners did Birmingham a favor on Sunday when they selected Corona Centennial to represent the South in the second CIF State Division I Bowl game.

Birmingham players, coaches and fans now can always remember the 13 consecutive victories with which they ended their season. They can return to class reunions and talk about how they would have destroyed Concord De La Salle and Centennial. They surely felt disappointment on Sunday, but on Monday should feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that, apart from being undefeated, they could not have done anything more.

They represented their community and their section well. They will be remembered as one of the great City teams of all time. They may, in fact, have had the best combination of offense and defense of the three teams that were most seriously discussed for the state bowl game.

But if they played De La Salle next week, and if they lost -- and that’s a very real possibility -- a lot of that gets tossed. Rarely are legends made by losing in the finale. No matter what, a little gloss is taken off the shine, and Birmingham had lots of shine.

Remember how much luster undefeated Oaks Christian lost because it needed overtime to win last year?

Birmingham doesn’t need that.

It may not seem like it because the Patriots wanted to prove themselves, but the commissioners did them a favor.

Enjoy it. Forever.

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image by Richart Hartog / Los Angeles Times