One of the truest measures of a champion is in how it defends its title.

Winning a championship is a euphoric experience, in any sport. Climbing the mountain requires sacrifice, dedication and a certain amount of good fortune. And upon reaching the destination, pausing to enjoy the view is a natural and necessary moment.

However, as I learned at Sumatanga, the danger of visiting the mountaintop is the temptation to stay. And champions, true champions, simply can’t do that — they go right back to the bottom of the mountain and start climbing once again.

Think for a moment, if you can remember, about the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s. It was pretty impressive when they won their first championship in 1991. It is remarkable, in retrospect, that they kept coming back – in ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97 and ’98.

It is in that spirit that citizens of Leeds should have left Jacksonville last Saturday with a large degree of pride. Two state champions, the name of their community and a giant statewide target on their backs, went down fighting their way back to the mountaintop.

Like champions do.

On the football field, Leeds began its defense with only a handful of its core from the 2008 team returning. What ensued in the ’09 campaign was truly champion-esque: the Green Wave didn’t drop a game to a 3A opponent all season, losing only to St. Clair County and Moody in non-region competition.

(Note: It was in the Moody game, a stirring victory for their cross-town rivals, that fans should have realized how difficult it is to go undefeated two consecutive seasons. That game was crazy. A madhouse.)

In the playoffs, Leeds played its part well as a defending champ: the Green Wave gutted out tough battles in the second third rounds before finally succumbing in the semifinals to Piedmont in a nip-and-tuck affair, 13-7.

A heartbreaking affair, to be sure, but one that should make Leeds folks proud — their boys went down swinging, like champions do (and that Piedmont team, you should know, went on to win the state title in overtime).

The basketball version of this had even less reason for optimism: almost no one from the 2009 champs returned for the ’09-’10 defense, and the schedule looked like a tall order in the preseason.

But these are champions. Leeds won 17 games in the regular season, won its area again and was right back in the finals of the Northeast regional in Jacksonville against … you guessed it … Piedmont.

And yes, the defense ended with another loss to Leeds’ arch nemesis (that reunion should be fun this fall, no?). Piedmont will gun for a replicate of what Leeds accomplished last year this week in Birmingham.

Nonetheless, the effort put forth was worthy of a champion. And if the true measure of a champion is how it defends its title, then the boys at Leeds are indeed true champs.

They should be proud. The whole community should be proud.