Monday, September 29, 2008

GO GATORS

It's a feat never accomplished in the history of organized football -- even in the pros. A team goes up 21-0 without running an offensive play. It happened this weekend. Not on the plastic grass of paid professionals, or the groomed grid iron of the college ranks. Not on a high school football field in Cap City. No, it happened in the middle school game between the St. John Eagles and the St. Jean Vianney Gators. And it was something to behold.Through the entire first half, the Gators ran exactly zero offensive plays and racked up three touchdowns. The defense returned one punt for a score. Intercepted a pass for another touchdown. And blocked a punt which they returned for another six.

It brought me back to my days as bench warmer for the E.D. White Cardinals. I still remember Coach Mike Boyer, chaw firmly embedded in his cheek, egging us on.

"110. 110. 110" Our pre-pubescent voices warbled and creaked in a chorus of middle school machismo. But I didn't sign in to reminesce about the my own grid iron glory (even if I did hold the record for most yards per carry on my 8th grade football team).The Littlest Loaf Pincher is following in the big Turd's footsteps. An amazing feat when you consider he inherited his athletic ability from a man with the athletic prowess of Spanish moss.

And follow in my foot-steps he did, right onto the kick-off team. That's where generous coaches put the guys too small or too slow for the first team.That's him, number 34 tackling that Eagle schmuck who thinks he's going to score. Because it was a rout, he and the rest of the second string got to play a lot of defense.

In this day of high-dollar heros and grid-iron gangstas cavorting and showboating on the field, it was good to see kids playing for fun. Sure, they wanted to win, but the Gators and the Eagles came to compete and shake hands at the end of it all. Something that is sometimes lost on coaches and parents in the stands.And if Sunday's game is any any indication, the LLP may spend a lot less time on the bench than his old man.

Now have I ever told you about how I earned a 6 yards per carry against the Sisters of Pain and Agony 5th graders? Don't laugh, those girls were HUGE. . .

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your kid inherited your lack of height I see, his teammates look like their big enough to play for the saints. That boy needs to stick to the balance beam!! just kiddin he must be a tough sob to play with those big ole boys!! xray ted

Senator's Forum said...

Sena-turd,

Very nice picture of the LLP. We'll put him on Sportsline when he gets older. One thing's for sure he's tougher than XRAY TED, did you know?

Sen. R. Hollins
Government Street District

Anonymous said...

x-ray

i was thinking about you for the first quarter of the lsu game.
did you know?

stw

Anonymous said...

Yes stw, I got that text from your lesser half while I was sweating, and slightly bent over with a bad back!! Congrats I guess, but you can quit whenever you want, don't let that lil turd pressure you too much!! xray ted