The Twenty Taco Challenge

Notice there are only 17 wrappers!

Pride and arrogance have no place at the table. Hubris and over-confidence shouldn't make an appearance either; however, as I sat across from one of my high school students tonight, these were the traits he was relishing!

Last night after the purity dinner, Tyler Ward, Kosten, C.J. Spence, and I went to Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. As we were ordering, Tyler became enamored with the Grande Meal. Apparently he has never looked that closely at the menu. The Grande meal is a mix and match meal consisting of 10 items of either hard tacos; soft tacos; or bean burritos. Tyler wanted a meal like that.

I informed him that there was no way he could eat 10 of anything. In a brash reply, he told me that he could finish not one but two Grande Meals. For those of you keeping count that is 20 items. In a bet only to be surpassed by God and Satan of Job 1; I took his wager!

Tonight was the night where this would be tested. AFter youth group Ireland, C.J, Aaron Jones, Austin and I headed to Taco bell to see if Tyler could complete the Herculean task of twenty tacos in the course of one meal. The argument rose as to how long a meal lasted. Was it 45 minutes? an hour? hour and a half? How long was a meal? We gave him 45 minutes!

He started off well.

First couple tacos went down well. Then the T-Bell staff came out and let us know that should he complete the task he would get 5 free tacos. One night of abdomen problems apparently has a price of $3.50 in store credit? But now the stakes were raised. They were taken to a whole notta level!

Around 8 tacos in (15 minutes) I began to get worried. He was going well and had a good rythym going (in no large part to the coaching of Austin and CJ; and the ever present optimism from Ireland). Meanwhile Aaron Jones regaled us with tales of battles and fights from his childhood with a brief shout out to the "fire thumbs."

13 tacos in (32 minutes) he began to slow down. He had started too quickly. There is a feeling; a notion that only people who have been around sports can recognize: its the look in the eye of the athlete when they realize the loftiness of their dreams; and the pain it will take to get there. Tyler had been wounded with the 13th taco!

At 17 1/2 tacos the deal was done! He was finished! Like Paul in 2 Timothy, he had fought the good fight and had come to the end of his race; it just so happened that it came 2 and a half taco shells short of where he had previously envisioned the line.

It was a valiant effort. A stunning display. When coming off a loss like that you never really are the same man; gastro-intestinally for sure; but psychologically and mentally as well. I have seen men never come back from something like that.