'The big game'

More National Guard troops from the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are preparing to say goodbye to their families before taking the final steps toward their eventual destination: Iraq. The Town Talk in central Louisiana reports that a ceremony will be held Monday morning at 10 a.m. local time, on the campus of Louisiana College in Pineville, to bid farewell to the citizen-soldiers.

An earlier Town Talk article quotes a few of the approximately 3,000 soldiers headed to Mississippi's Camp Shelby for training before the Iraq assignment.

"When you go drill all week, you're preparing to do a job," said Sgt. Gabrial Rhodes of Shreveport. "It's like high school football, you go to practice all week, and it's all for the big game on Friday. Deployment is our big game. It's our opportunity to do a job when called on."

While most of the nation is focused on the NFL playoffs, let us not forget that there is a more important competition taking place every minute of every day overseas. There are no timeouts or two-minute warnings. But one thing is certain: we already know which team is the best, and which side will be victorious.

Best of luck to the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which will be guarding convoys and American military bases.