What does it mean to be perfect?  Well, when I think of perfection I always begin by thinking about the 1972 Miami Dolphins football team.  Can you imagine it? A 17-0 season including a victory in the AFC Eastern Division, an AFC Championship and finally a 14-7 victory in Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins. Perfection.

But wait a minute.  Although the Dolphins went the entire season without a loss, there were still plenty of points scored against them.  So even though their record was perfect, they weren’t always perfect on the field.

Splitting hairs you say? Maybe.

But then there’s the 1959 East Pennsboro high school football team to consider.  They also had a perfect season.  But in the case of the Panthers – no one scored a single point against them for the entire campaign.  No one.  Not a single point.  Perfection.

In a recent article in the Harrisburg Patriot News, team members recalled that perfect season and shared various theories about how it happened:

• Eleven of the 15 team members had played under the same Pee Wee coach.
• Two of the team members were best friends.
• The coach of the team had already won a high school championship.
• The coach’s beloved mentor had died just before the season began.
• The team benefited from the close-knit atmosphere of a post World War Two community.
• The school had just purchased new uniforms.

But the truth is any small town high school football team could have boasted of similar attributes.  So how did they do it?

One team member explained that the whole town of Enola, PA was emotionally invested in their team. The town was part of the team.

Another team member pointed out that they really were not perfect.  In one game, they were only ahead by 14 points at half time.  In another, an opponent’s field goal attempt from the 25-yard line went wide to the left for no apparent reason.

And of course, they did give up hundreds of yards to the competition, although no points were ever conceded.

So maybe perfection isn’t really perfection.  If we say it’s all wins and no losses – someone else says it’s never giving up a point.  And if we say it’s no points conceded – then someone else says it’s never giving up a yard.

All right.  So maybe perfection is something we pursue but never reach?

That sounds reasonable.  Reasonable – but not perfect.