Before cars start to fly.

Before we all have chips in our wrists, our ears, our ankles, or stomachs.

Before Michael Jordan, Deion Sanders, Lionel Messi, Michael Phelps, Tom Brady, Simone Biles, Serena Williams, and LeBron James all pass away.

Before the Statue of Liberty crumbles.

Before Amboy Depot Days turns 150.

Before humans don’t work anymore because we were replaced by robots.

Before Chris Benoit gets into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Before print becomes obsolete and every read word is digital.

Before McDonalds becomes the healthiest restaurant in the world.

Before the entire world is ran by one president or one ruler.

Before Atlantis is discovered.

Before someone gets a Jurassic Park-like idea and recreates dinosaurs to run amongst us.

Before another NCAA men’s basketball team wins 10 championships in 12 seasons like the John Wooden-led UCLA Bruins.

Before an NBA player breaks Wil Chamberlain’s record of 100 points in a game.

Before teachers go on strike at every school in the United States of America and the school system is destroyed.

Before trains hoover over railroad tracks instead of being attached.

Before anything that shouldn’t happen or we don’t think will happen does happen, the Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio players, coaches, and fans need to do one thing…

Sink it all in.

The Clippers have made it to the Illinois 8-Man Football Association State Championship for the third time. The first team to ever do so.

They have answered the call when naysayers were saying they couldn’t get back to the final game of the season.

Every week another kid stepped up.

Every week the rushing attack ran over opponents.

Every week the play-action pass set up by the running game found the end zone.

The Clippers deserve all of the accolades and to be in the state championship.

They also deserve to remember and be proud of this moment, now. Not after the moment has passed and decades have gone by, but right now as it is happening.

Unfortunately, we think dynasties will never fall and an awesome team will always stay awesome.

Ask the Dallas Cowboys of the 1980s and 1990s, who haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1995.

The Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, who haven’t won a ring since MJ retired in 1998.

The New England Patriots of the 2000s and 2010s, who last won in 2019, but are one of the worst teams in the NFL now.

The New York Yankees of the 1990s and 2000s, who seem to be really good every year but haven’t gotten over the hump since 2009.

The Seattle Supersonics, the Montreal Expos, the Baltimore Colts, the Boston Braves, the California Golden Seals, the St. Louis Rams, the Houston Oilers, the Minneapolis Lakers, the Oakland Raiders, the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego Chargers, the Seattle Pilots, the Vancouver Grizzlies, and the Washington Senators, who are not even teams anymore or are not in the city they were originally founded.

There are thousands of Illinois high school teams who have won one state title, thought they would return, and were never able to.

Success levels change in time as every team goes through periods of greatness and rebuilding.

Hopefully it never happens to the Clippers, but time and history would say we’re lying to ourselves if we believed there would never be a losing season again.

This is exactly why it is important to slow down, breathe, look at the confetti, look at all the screaming fans, huddle with your brothers, and enjoy the moment.

What the Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio football team has done the last three years should be solidified in everyone’s mind as a special time in life we don’t want to forget.

The tough part is realizing and finding a way to fully appreciate it right now, RIGHT NOW, instead of later.