Today is Sunday, and I took the entire day off away from football.........yeah right. I went up to school at about 11:00 am to assemble the new tackling sled platform. This thing came in several smaller boxes which were very heavy even by themselves. The legs were strapped together and laying inside our portable. Then there was a 16ft long, 4" x 4" (1/4 inch steel) square post laying on the back ramp. I got to school and started the assembly process. I took the pieces over across the field in the back of my pick-up truck. Each base pole was 8' tall. Both the end frames bolted together with 3/4" lag bolts, and sort of looked like a giant modified 'V' (upside down.) Each leg has a 1 ft round ground platform bolted to it (these keep the poles from sinking into the ground) At the top of each assembly, there is a large square assembly to accept the 4 x 4 steel post you see here in this picture. I could do the smaller assembly myself........then I walked across the field to drag over the large 16 ft 4 x 4 post. LOL. Sometimes I am so stupid. That post must have weighed 250 lbs. It was a real beast.
I never ask for help....ever. I will figure out a way to do anything by myself usually. But, there was no way this was going to happen. I get on my phone and texted Mason: "Hey buddy, what are you doing now?" He answered immediately and came up to school (on his day off) to help me. I could not have done it without this big and strong 16 year old. Together, we carried the large cross member over to the end frames waiting for us on the other side of the field. Big Mason basically pressed the big post over his head to get the first side inserted into the receiver. We leaned the receiver forward to accept one end of the post; however, this entire unit is 8' tall. There was no way we could maneuver the post high enough to get the other (end assembly) connected. Mason gets on his phone and calls another player, Gage. Thankfully, Gage came right up to school and we all knocked it out quickly. (Thank god for young strong muscle. These are really good kids too.)
So, what do you think? I know it is not much to look at, and although it does not look like it, but this thing is HEAVY. Did I mention it was heavy? Anyway, we will connect an 80lb (6ft) bag on the sliding carriage you see in the picture. The carriage is on wheels and slides down the length of the center post. The players will make contact with the bag, wrap up, and drive the bag the length of the machine. The offensive line will use this machine for punch blocking. There are all sorts of drills we can use this beast for. Did I mention it was heavy?
While I was at school, a college recruiter came to pick up some information on some of our players. I really enjoyed this guy's visit. His older father was riding along with him, and we all sat in the portable and talked for about an hour......and not just about football. As we were wrapping things up, I told the younger coach: "Enjoy this time with your dad, it is special!" His relationship with his father really took me back.
All in all, it was a good day. LOTS to do this week. I hope the weather leaves us alone.
GZ
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