Rocket Pride is not simply some phony façade of a so-called "winning tradition." It’s an attitude that translates into how each of us in the community responds to individual as well as collective challenges and adversities in everyday life. But above all, it has a soul, it’s based on perseverance rooted in faith, and it’s based on love. When Coach Sanders left early in 1980, after three seasons that transformed Judson’s attitude if not record, I wasn’t sure anyone could top or even match what the community and I (even after having left for A&M) had experienced. Thanks be to God (literally), a few good men, led by Frank Arnold, did just that. And, they even helped give a name to this attitude and way of life, known as "Rocket Pride." And it wasn’t just about winning. Indeed, many of my proudest experiences with Rocket Pride were in the games that we valiantly lost. Because neither the coaches, the team, the fans nor the support groups gave up, even when things seemed hopeless, and time was short. Finally, this attitude perhaps saw its finest hour in the 32-point comeback against Bowie in 1996.

Just remember: When Mr. Paschall called on us to "Win this game" "To save our Name." "From Disgrace and Shame" he wasn’t just referring to the game on the field. It was the "game" each and every one of us shows up for each and every day, called Life. And in that game, we can do no less than "Do our best, don’t sweat the rest, and let winning take care of itself." Even when things seem hopeless, and time is short. It’s a philosophy that Moses Judson, being a man of infinite common sense and somewhat ahead of his time, would be proud of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In fact, it’s a philosophy that the Moses of the Bible would appreciate, considering his predicament with him stuck there on the beach in a serious bind and with a very short timeline, several thousand people bitching at him for bringing them out there, and nothing to do but trust and hope that the solutions will come in time, one way or the other, while continuing to "work the problem."

That is what Rocket Pride means to me, and it’s something that, along with a deepening sense of God’s infinite patience and mercy, has sustained me many times since 1977 in the various challenges, adversities, and apparent setbacks I’ve experienced in my "Game." Quite frequently, all I have had to do since 1977 in order to get an emotional lift of sorts in such situations, has been to recall the sounds of the Twelfth Man effort at Kyle Field (something I also became quite familiar with) on the one hand, and also on the other, Mr. Paschall and HEY!! HEY!!, the Rocket Band playing its arrangement of "Rocky," that it used for about 18 seasons, the words of a Judson cheerleader, in a slightly high-pitched, uptempo manner, disseminated by the loudspeakers on the track below, and a Team on the field and on the sidelines, energized by its fans in the stands (and the fans in turn energized by the Team), all putting forth a "Rocket Pride" effort----win or lose, all realizing that whatever game was taking place in the stadium was merely one of a series of "downs" in the even larger "Game" of Life each of us has been commissioned by God to "win" which, of course, can only be done if God wins our souls. Or, as Flight Director Gene Kranz said to his Tiger Team during the Apollo 13 crisis: "Failure is not an option." Indeed, failure in the Ultimate "Mission" or "Game" of Life is likewise not an option. We have no choice but to complete the "Mission" successfully.

NASA’s definition of a successful mission is one that concludes with loss of neither vehicle nor crew. Thus, Apollo 13 was a success. It was NASA’s finest moment for their literal version of "rocket" pride. Success in the Ultimate Mission or "game" of Life has similar criteria: Loss of neither (eternal) Life nor soul, even if many subsidiary objectives, or the means for achieving them (the "Flight" Plan), have to be re-evaluated or considerably modified along the way. Rocket Pride is simply another manifestation of the same criteria, be it Life, a manned space flight, or the Judson Rockets attempting (and not just in football or sports in general), to ‘pass all others by’ and bring ‘glory and honor’ to their school, their community, and something (or some One) much greater than themselves.

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