Charles Dickens put it best: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
A Tale of Two Cities wasn’t talking about the 2012 Palm Beach Punishers football season, but it certainly does apply. While this year Palm Beach reached several milestones, like being undefeated at home and finally conquering the arch-rival Miami Fury (albeit a bruised and broken shell of its former self), the one line that most applies to us is that of “all going direct the other way”–hell.
Despite the faltering ranks and cascading crises, Palm Beach managed three home victories before closing its doors, possibly for good.
The Endzone Airwaves have fallen silent for quite some time. The plagued Punishers year shoulders most of the blame–I’ve been disenchanted and uninspired by the stunting of my own football career at the hands of a crumbled season. But some of the reasons for my inattention to covering the sport I love so dearly are good. After leaving my career in the golf business (I use that term loosely, as I merely worked around the clubhouse and neighborhood) to concrete my work as a screenwriter, my first screenplay has been sold to a production company and will soon be a feature film in a theater near you (I also use “soon” loosely). As the deadlines near, my fingers are well occupied with draft over draft of the script.
Though I beam about the future of my film career, I fret over the future of my football career. I’m confidant enough in my abilities to say there are many other places I would be welcome. However, the pleasure of playing close to home is one I’m troubled to give up. Not to mention the extreme connection to and affinity of Palm Beach–all six years of my women’s career have taken place here.
Yes, yes I hear you. “What about the Punishers?” I could go on and on about the lack of fundraising, sponsors, off-season practices, camps, the coaches walking out of practice even though 14 girls were there and ready to play, the clamoring for forfeits by CAPTAINS, the founding member and former owner that quit out of nowhere, the three All-American caliber defensive talents that were kicked off the team because of OFF-FIELD conflicts with staff (not coaches), and the eventual folding of the entire program for the duration of the year, but that would be exhausting! Even that rambling sentence was an excessive amount of time to spend rehashing the utterly depressing series of events that lead to this point.
Even before the forfeits, it was evident that the family was splintering. Parties used to be the one place everyone would show, but not this season.
But as Dickens’ quote displayed, there were good moments. Glimmers of hope that our season and franchise wasn’t on the way to being reduced to rubble. Offensive records were set, burned bridges re-built in times of need (former teammates returning to help triumph when others had fallen with injury). And as I said, we did manage to conquer Tallahassee, Central Florida, and Miami with a specter of our previous talent, much lighter in the saddle than we’d been since our first season.
Still, in the end, we’re all sifting through ashes of a program we once thought bound for greatness. The core of the team, from captainship to coaching, became unwilling to continue the mission, and both riddled with and terrified of injury. In a sport as brutal as this, the moment you think you could get hurt…you will.
So rather than place blame, marinate in my bitterness, or curse the football gods (or off-field distractions) that put us here, I’d like to birth this thought: the Punishers have all but crumbled, but in a way that shut the door on many unanswered quests. If there was to be an end to this franchise, let it be on the note of that undefeated home season. Let it be on the defeat of the Fury. Though it is the winter of our despair, let us recall the 2012 season for the spring of hope. Hope that from these ashes can raise a NEW program, a NEW mission, a NEW franchise.
There is a point where even I must walk away from a broken, battered dream.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but far worse are a great many women scorned. And attempting to revisit the failures and mis-handling of the Punishers may be just enough of a sin against the talented players in this area to break them for good. No, let us learn from our mistakes and go direct to heaven.
It’s good to be back, and it’s time to move on.
The Endzone Airwaves 
A long ways from the old days, when just a coach and few players would quit but plenty of others remained to carry out the season. It would be a shame to see the name and colors go that i was once a part of for two years. Good story maple.
that was a good article, but i wouldnt say the punishers are done…. who knows what might come out of the ashes of 2012, which i think was (at least the last 2 home games) the best i have ever played having to go both ways most of the games, and caitlin sure did shine in the last game. I hope it doesnt happen but i love my entire punisher family no matter what!