Perfection, in our personal lives, is impossible.

Most of us strive for it, but because we are human it is unattainable.

And how do you measure it anyway?

Is a perfect day not forgetting to get the kids off the bus or not burning dinner? But if you don’t burn dinner and it tastes terrible, that certainly is not a perfect day.

But in sports, there are two types of perfection.

And one is measurable.

There is the playing of the perfect game or running the perfect race. But who is to say you played the perfect game? Is it a perfect game if you win 52-0, but commit just one penalty? A mistake, so that is not perfection. Is it the perfect race, if you slow down midway through, regroup and then outkick the runner who passed you to win the 5,000-meter cross country race?

There is another “perfection” in sports and that is a team’s record.

Tonight, two Times News area teams are going for perfect regular seasons - Palmerton and Northwestern Lehigh.

The Blue Bombers (9-0) travel to Northern Lehigh (3-6), while the 9-0 Tigers host also unbeaten Southern Lehigh (9-0).

Palmerton is a heavy favorite against the Bulldogs, while Northwestern will have to play an almost “perfect” game to end the regular season 10-0.

Palmerton has never finished 10-0 - the 1951 Blue Bombers were 8-0.

Regardless of what happens tonight, the Blue Bombers and the Tigers should be applauded for getting to this point in the season with no vertical lines in the loss column.

Because of the playoff system, going unbeaten in the regular season has lost some of its luster. It almost seems as if it’s an afterthought and all judgment is reserved for November into early December.

That diminishes what coaches Chris Walkowiak (Palmerton) and Josh Snyder (Northwestern), their staffs and their players have done.

To get to Oct. 27 with 9-0 records, a lot of good things had to happen and a lot of bad things had to not happen.

And remember, they are dealing with 15- to 18-year-old high school students. Besides injuries, stuff happens with teenagers - every high school coach who has been around for more than a decade surely has a story of how a player went south after his girlfriend broke up with him.

The football season officially started on Aug. 7, but we all know for most of the players it began months before.

Think about that. Two of our nine area teams managed to keep their main players healthy and in the right frame of mind for five to six months in order to win nine straight games.

Here’s hoping we have two 10-0 teams heading into the district playoffs that Times News readers can brag about. But if we don’t, it’s still been one of the greatest regular seasons in our area.

No. 9 - Panther Valley

The smallest public school in the Times News football coverage area played its heart out this year en route to 2-7 record. Tamaqua comes to town looking to go 5-5 but a “perfect” game by the Panthers could make for a quiet bus ride down Route 209 back Tamaqua.

No. 8 - Northern Lehigh

The Bulldogs drop two spots after getting beat by Jim Thorpe last week, which should make them even more dangerous tonight in their matchup with Palmerton.

No. 6 - Lehighton and Jim Thorpe

Let them settle this argument on the field. Both teams have played well at times, but it seems that Thorpe is on somewhat of a roll.

No. 5 - Pleasant Valley

The Bears retained the Old Oaken Bucket last week and must prevent a letdown against Stroudsburg, a team that’s capable of winning or just showing up and eating bons bons on the sidelines.

No. 4 - Marian

The Colts struggled last week, but Pine Grove should be a good springboard into the district playoffs.

No. 3 - Tamaqua

The Blue Raiders get better every week, giving Palmerton a game in the first half last week. They will dispose of Panther Valley tonight and roll into the district playoffs with some momentum.

No. 2 - Northwestern

Southern Lehigh, a 5A school, is highly regarded, not just in the district, but statewide. A win tonight stamps Northwestern, a 3A school, as the district favorite contender that could go deep into the state playoffs.

No. 1 - Palmerton

Well, I think we’ve pretty much covered everything there is to cover about the Blue Bombers. Now it’s time to play ball.