There’s an old saying in sports that no matter what you think of yourself, you are what your record says you are.

It’s intended to snap athletes back to reality if they get a big head, or make them understand they need to dig in and work harder. It’s obviously true in a factual sense, but from a realistic sense it’s hogwash.

Plenty of good teams have bad records. Just look at two of our local football teams, Vicksburg High and Warren Central.

Vicksburg started the season 0-5, and looked every bit of it. They couldn’t move the ball on offense, kept hurting themselves with penalties and mistakes, and were blown out in all five losses.

The Gators were also largely the same team that won nine games last season. More than 30 seniors returned. They obviously had some talent, and proved it by winning five of their next six games to reach the playoffs. Now they have plenty of momentum, a favorable draw, and are a darkhorse candidate to make a deep playoff run.

Warren Central lost three of its first seven games — all to teams that have been ranked in the top five in Class 6A at one time or another, and by a total of 18 points. The Vikings were a good team that experienced some bad luck against an extremely difficult schedule, not one struggling to stay above .500 in the middle of the season. They proved that by winning their last four games, including a 23-0 victory over then-No. 3 Starkville two weeks ago.

Warren Central might lose its first playoff game this week. It faces No. 2 Tupelo to complete its bingo card of playing each of the top five teams in Class 6A. Tupelo is undefeated, won the Region 1-6A championship, and has been regarded as one of the best teams in Mississippi all season long.

Whoever loses will suffer the same fate as plenty of other middling teams that make a quick first-round exit, but is far from a bad team.

So, if the Gators and Vikings do wind up on the short end of the stick this week, try to remember this lesson. Both of them have done very well to overcome their early struggles. Both have shown they can hold their own against some of the best teams in the state.

Both have proven that they are, in fact, good teams — no matter what the results and the record might say.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer for The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com