I am going to Throw Up!

                                                  Who is behind the Mask? 

Going to be short tonight.  I am actually going to hit the sack early tonight.  I have to be at school by 7:15am to start getting water together etc..  Water is important (as we previously discussed) but now we are REALLY being watched on how we hydrate our players.  In today's Press Journal (www.tcpalm.com) there was a big article on this subject.  I am sure there will be cameras ready to photograph kids drinking water and taking water breaks.  This is going to be a great time show off my handy-work  with my water machines.  At Sebastian River High School (SRHS) we have always been great about giving our kids all the water they need, so this is not going to be much of a change for us at all; however, this is not always the case with other schools, where the water situation is almost an after thought.  Believe it or not, the coaches will be keeping an eye on each other as well, especially Coach Wilson.  No one is invincible. 

Mason texted me tonight about start times tomorrow etc..  I love this kid.  He reminds me of myself when I was a young buck.  As coaches, we try not to get involved with all the social media stuff with players or students, but I will shoot Mason an insulting text message about once a week.  Maybe just something as innocent as questioning his manhood, or his work ethic, or just about anything to get under his skin. He usually shoots something back and that ends it.  There is a certain boundary that coaches can't cross.  We can't be their friend and coach them at the same time.  But, I do like to joke and tease with the kids to keep them loose...kind of a good guy-bad guy-type of thing.   One of my favorite things to say is: "I'm not here to kill you, Lets just get the work done and go home!" 

People think that all coaches do is YELL, YELL, YELL.  We do yell a lot, but its not all negative.  Most times we are yelling to get a message across to about 100 kids.  Sometimes we elevate our voices to show approval at something a player may have done.  Sure, most of us will yell when something goes wrong, but most of us will be just as loud when it goes right.  People do not hear that.  When people find out I am a football coach, I am often asked: "Do you yell a lot?"  This is a misconception of what a coach actually does.  The older I get, I try to reason with a player instead.  I will often say: "Tell me what happened!"  or  "What did you do wrong?"  Sometimes, I will put my arm around his shoulder and ask the question...no one else hears it it except me and him.  Some kids respond to this method. 

Want to know what aggravates a coach?  We are short staffed, so we must be very productive when we teach.  When we are teaching a certain group, we expect ALL the position players to pay attention to what we are teaching.  Then, when it is their turn, at least we won't have to teach the same thing all over again.  It drives us crazy when a player has no idea what to do on a particular play, especially if we JUST TAUGHT IT!   Parents often ask us: "Why is my son not playing?"  To be honest, it is probably because he has not proven himself to the coaches in practice. 

That's it.  I am going to bed. 

Later