Revenge is a dish best served all week
In the famous saying, revenge is apparently some type of food that is good chilled.
This week, it's not a single dish. It's a whole buffet. From local volleyball courts to frozen tundras up north, vengeance is a definite theme.
It starts today at Cibola when the Raiders take on San Luis in volleyball - one of two revenge-theme volleyball matches this week. The first time through the Gila Valley Region, the Sidewinders shocked the Raiders in San Luis with a victory. Cibola has still lost just one region game and would like to keep it that way heading into the season finale Thursday.
That season finale, by the way, is against Yuma High, who will be looking to avenge their loss to the Raiders earlier in the year. The regular-season region title will be on the line, with the winner likely to host the region tournament depending how tonight's games shake out.
And then, of course, there's Saturday's region tournament, where all these schools are likely to meet again, with revenge for one thing or another on the line. And although Saturday doesn't count toward power points, the games today and Thursday do. San Luis is in most need of a win, hanging on to the No. 16 ranking in 5A-I - the top 16 teams qualify. Yuma High (No. 9) and Cibola (No. 2) seem like locks for the postseason, but making assumptions about power points is never a good idea.
Volleyball is just an appetizer. Come Friday is the most delicious, most intriguing revenge game there could be at any level. Put aside the normal veracity of the Yuma High-Kofa football feud, this year's meeting is a doozy.
Last year, Kofa marched into Yuma High and beat the Criminals on the weekend of their 100th anniversary celebration. It was enough to make Crim fans physically ill - not only because they lost to a rival, not only because it put a dent in a celebration 100 years in the making, but because it cost the Crims the region title, instead putting the Kings in the driver's seat.
This year, Yuma High travels to Kofa as the Kings are celebrating their 50th anniversary. While the region title isn't on the line - Cibola needs only to win one game against two teams that have combined only to beat each other in order to claim the title - there is still plenty of bad blood. About 50 years' worth by my count.
Barring a Raider collapse, Kofa is out of the playoffs - ranked No. 27 in 5A-I - but Yuma High has a chance, entering Friday at No. 17. Cibola is ranked behind them (22), so the Criminals would have to get up to at least 15, if not higher, to be safe. A loss to the Kings and any playoff chance is gone.
And if the revenge dish is still leaving you hungry, just wait until Sunday when the Vikings go to Green Bay. Little known fact: The Vikings quarterback, an actor whose credits include "There's Something About Mary," apparently used to play for the Packers or something.
The former actor struck first when Minnesota won at home earlier this year, sacking Aaron Rodgers 114 times.
So Green Bay is looking for revenge against the Vikings for the last game, while Brett Favre is still looking for revenge against a Green Bay franchise that, in his eyes at least, wronged him.
With all these fattening dishes this week, it's time for a diet next week.
