Road to 4,439: It’s time to pay attention

Columns are meant to get the reader inside of the writer’s head and this one will be no different. However let’s get a bit deeper and talk about things related specifically to the topics I cover and choose not to cover within these pages. There’s no harm in talking some inside baseball every once in a while.

For those in the know or those who have seen the cover of our Fall Sports page, senior running back Alyas Ramirez was, or rather still is, on pace to become Gonzales’ all-time leading rusher. Yet this is Week 5 and it’s the first I’ve written those words since the special section.

Why is that?

One obvious reason is, well, we (I’m sure you’ll excuse me in referring to the Apaches as “we”) have been losing. Last Friday against the Yoakum Bulldogs has been the closest all season to getting that win, but as of press time the team is 0-4 with one non-district game to go.

When the Apaches kept piling up on losses, I didn’t think it was appropriate to even talk about Ramirez’s path to the rushing title, especially because in sports, the cliché is to put team over individual.

As true as that might be, I think I was wrong in not talking about it because this record being broken should be a big deal.

Assuming the record book is indeed up to date according to the school, Derrick Johnson who (and again I’m relying on little information I’ve found) was in school in the mid 90s is the record holder at 4,439 yards. As of today, before the game against Bellville, Ramirez sits at 3,971 yards, 468 yards behind Johnson.

The star running back is averaging 101 yards per game. Assuming he keeps this pace, he’ll break the record at home October 30 against Robstown, the ninth game of the season.

For an athlete who had to endure a coaching change as well as switching from running back, to wildcat quarterback during the Ricky Lock days back to running back then to quarterback and now back to running back in the current Kodi Crane era of Apache football, it’s pretty remarkable that Ramirez is on pace to break the record before the season even ends.

Yet somehow I’ve convinced myself that during the season I should just be talking about the team overall and not highlight accomplishments during losses.

But then my editorial staff told me that I should at least mention the record and it got me thinking. Do other news outlets cover professional teams worry about wins and losses whenever an athlete is close to breaking a record?

I don’t think mainstream media cares about the “distraction” of a possible record-breaking season affecting the play on the field. And if you’ve spent any time with the team, including the kids in the pads and the coaching staff, you’d know that their main focus is on getting that win and improving as a football team and not a record.

So that leads me back to the original point. Is it in poor taste to talk about the rushing title possibly being broken even though the Apaches are 0-4? Was it in poor taste to talk about NFL player Calvin Johnson breaking the record for most receiving yards in a season with 1,964?

I don’t think someone with common sense would say it was in poor taste.

If you don’t remember, the Detroit Lions in 2012 went 4-12, losing their last eight games in a row after starting off the season 4-4. Just another disappointing Lions season in the books, however something remarkable happened. Despite the losing, Johnson was able to rack up that record-breaking 1,964 yards receiving that year, officially breaking the mark in Week 16, their penultimate game of the season.

Did talking about the record lead to the Lions going 4-12? Absolutely not. Nor will talking about Ramirez being on pace to break the school’s rushing record will be a distraction.

If you’re worried about a bad season for these Apaches well I have news for you. It’s been reported on before, but it needs to be mentioned again. These five non-district games are the toughest games Gonzales will ever face this year outside playing against La Vernia. And with how the playoffs are structured, only district games matter when it comes to playoff contention.

That being said, it’s time to pay attention to the record. Ramirez is a remarkable athlete that Gonzales High will miss after he graduates. It’s better now to start paying attention then to wonder what the metaphorical confetti being tossed later this season is about when he makes history.

He’s at 3,971 and counting, 468 yards to go.