ON DECK: Life-changing day for Matadors, Lions

Every group of people have a special day.

For football fans, it’s Super Bowl Sunday. For shoppers, it’s Black Friday. For “Twilight” and Justin Bieber fans, it’s the Teen Choice Awards.

But for a group of young men, December 3, 2011 will be a day they will never forget — for better or worse.

Nationwide, the NJCAA Championship Game will come and go with little attention. For those involved, however, it’ll be a game that’ll drastically change their lives.

The winners will grow old, reminiscing with teammates over some beers and cigars, talking about the plays that turned the game. The losers will spend a lifetime remembering a missed tackle, a dropped pass or a fumble. The truth of the matter is, as junior college players, this will be their final football game for many of them. The final installment — and memory — of their life on the gridiron.

Many of the players and coaches on both sides, I’m sure, didn’t sleep well on Friday. They probably tossed and turned thinking about the reality of what was waiting for them in the morning: Today is a big, big day.