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Apparently much of the Valley viewed Will Ferrell’s “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” immediately following the Harlingen Cardinals 42-13 loss to Austin Westlake on Friday night.

I say this because it would appear that several Valley football fans believe — just as Ricky Bobby did in the film — that “if you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Despite a wonderful season that saw the Cards go 12-1, there are people out there who believe that Harlingen’s season went to waste after losing to the Chaparrals.

While the loss was very disappointing, to say the Cards’ season was a waste because of their third-round exit is very petty, cruel and extremely ignorant.

The Cardinals game hadn’t even ended when a caller, who refused to give his name, informed me that all the coverage we gave Harlingen throughout the season was wasted since “they lost like a typical Valley team.”

“They (the Cards) aren’t worth the ink you used to write all those stories,” he said. “They were the best team in the VALLEY. That’s it! They can’t win the big one.”

Hello, Ricky Bobby? Is that you?

And such sentiments aren’t exclusive to the Cardinals. After Sharyland lost to Edinburg North in the second round of the playoffs last week, a few comments were posted online at RGVSports.com by people who felt the Rattlers’ 11-1 record was a waste.

Of course these feelings are just a reaction to disappointment and anger. Our society’s views on success and failure are very black and white. You win it all or you’re a loser. There’s no in between. No room for middle ground.

The 2007 New England Patriots were a phenomenal team. The Pats finished the regular season undefeated — something no other team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins had accomplished. But in Super Bowl XLII they fell short to the New York Giants. Suddenly, In the eyes of many NFL fans, a magical season had gone completely up in smoke because of the one loss.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not comparing the Cards or the Rattlers to the Patriots. But the fact that we as fans can turn on a good team because they fail to go the distance is sad.

And while I guess it’s a moot point now, I guarantee that if the Cards had beaten Westlake and advanced to the fourth round of the postseason and lost there, some people would still call the season a waste because they failed to go all the way.

It makes me mad that certain people find it necessary to demean a good effort. Rather than congratulate these hard working young men on a job well done, these people choose to point and laugh as if these kids are receiving some sort of comeuppance or getting what they deserve.

It’s a long, hard road to the state championship and only a handful of elite teams can ever say they went the distance. But that’s what makes the whole thing so special. The fact that it is so hard to win the ultimate prize makes the accomplishment unique.

And for 48 years that road to glory has been littered with the remains of countless Valley football players who have been unable to go the distance. But this does not make all these young men losers and their effort worthless. It only makes them athletes. And sometimes, no matter how hard they try, athletes come up on the short end of the equation.

I know I’m not alone when I say that I truly believe that one day the Valley WILL field a football state champion. But until that day, don’t dismiss those that try and fall short.

There is no shame in trying and failing. There’s only shame in giving up.

Dave Favila is senior sportswriter for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at davidf@valleystar.com or at 956-430-6214