Stevenson's Bilton using YouTube gaff as motivation

Want to relive the best moments from last night's big game, or jam out to your favorite music video?

Want to see the best snippets from a political speech, a talk show, a movie?

Want to watch a video of a ride at an amusement park before you actually ride it, or see everyday people doing ridiculous things?

You can do all of that and more at YouTube, a public collection of amateur and professional videos and one of the coolest sites on the Internet.

Cool, that is, until it's you who is actually on the tube - in perhaps a less-than-flattering way.

Stevenson senior wide receiver Mike Bilton, who kicks off the 2008 football season tonight as one of the best returning players in Lake County, knows all too well about "finding himself" on YouTube.

One of his friends broke the news to him last fall.

He was told that one of his lowest moments as a football player was indeed on YouTube. For the whole world to see.

Last October, Bilton, who pulled double duty by also playing cornerback, had just made the play of his life. He and the Patriots were taking on Fremd in a hotly contested Class 8A first round playoff game.

The Patriots were down by just 2 points midway through the fourth quarter when Bilton intercepted a Fremd pass deep in Stevenson territory and sprinted all the way to the Fremd 9-yard line.

Talk about a turn of events. Things suddenly looked very good for the Patriots, who then decided to stick with the hot hand.

Stevenson lined up its offense and Bilton got the ball on a special play that had just been put into the playbook for such a high-stakes occasion.

"I really like the play," Bilton said. "It hits right, I get the ball, I see the hole, I cut for it. It's great."

Great on most days anyway.

On that particular day, the ball somehow got knocked out of Bilton's hands, and then it fell to the ground.

"I just kind of lost concentration with the ball hanging out there and it got stripped away and Fremd recovered it," Bilton said. "We didn't have much of a chance to win the game after that."

Stevenson did indeed lose the game, 21-19. By the next day, the video - of only Bilton's fumble, not his interception - was posted on YouTube.

Bilton doesn't know the "author" personally, but believes he is a Stevenson student.

"I recognize the name (that is posted with the video)," Bilton said. "Seeing that made me pretty angry. I don't know why he had to put that play on there. It hasn't had too many views, but still. You don't want that on the Internet.

"It's pretty painful to watch."

But ever since, Bilton has been bound and determined to make it hurt so good.

Bilton says he's used the play, the video and the team's disappointing 5-5 season as motivation for this season.

And he's convinced that he's a much better player for it today.

"All of those things have constantly been in the back of my mind and I think all of that really made me work harder in the off-season, harder than I ever have," Bilton said. "I felt so bad about what happened last year, like I let the whole team down. My teammates were great about it and said that I put us in a position to win the game in the first place. But I was still upset for a long time. I don't want that to happen again. I want to redeem myself this year. I want my senior year to go great."

Minus the fumble, if this season is anything like last season, the 6-foot, 195-pound Bilton will go out on a sky-high note.

Last year, Bilton caught 7 touchdown passes and rolled up a total 31 catches for 510 yards. Also the team's punter, he averaged about 40 yards per punt.

"He's an unbelievable athlete," said Stevenson quarterback Zach Wujcik, who racked up more than 1,000 passing yards last year thanks in large part to Bilton, his childhood friend. "We've been playing catch since grade school. He's always been really good. He definitely has God-given ability.

"But he also has worked really hard, especially this year. He definitely has a chip on his shoulder."

Bilton's shoulders can take it. They're strong enough to carry some extra weight - as are his arms and his legs and the rest of his body. He says that his hyper-driven work ethic over the off-season resulted in a significant physical transformation that should make him even an even bigger weapon this season.

"I really hit the weight room hard this year," Bilton said. "I had a personal trainer for awhile and I also worked out by myself a lot. I put on about 20 pounds and my game speed has improved. Physically, I'm in much better shape than I was last year.

"People have told me I look much bigger and stronger and I see that (on the field). I can get by guys, I have more control over people and I can maneuver by them better."

Bilton says that last year he could bench only 135 pounds a couple of times and now he's up to 225 pounds. He also cut his 40 time from a 4.8 to a 4.6.

"He's really worked hard to get in great shape, which is good because he might not leave the field," said Stevenson coach Bill Mitz, who will likely continue to use Bilton as a wide receiver, cornerback and punter. He may also have him returning kicks as well. "He's just a different kid than he was last year - physically and the way he (carries himself). He's not a big talker but he's a leader because he lets his actions speak for themselves."

Maybe some of those actions will end up on YouTube again. This time as highlights.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com