Kirby: Looks like the Princess had a rough night!
Today is Wednesday, and we had another good day at practice. Make no mistake....it is HOT out there. (I was running about 10 minutes late this morning, and Coach Miller jumped in and filled the water coolers up with ice. Thanks Coach. I appreciate the help! ) For the first three days, rules state that kids must practice in just shorts, shirts, and helmets. Our practice shirts are grey in color; naturally, our kids were soaked in sweat within the first 15 minutes of practice. I looked over at our big linemen, and it looked like they all wore their practice clothes in the shower. Poor kids. We had a slight problem with the QB/Center exchange today. I asked: "What the hell is going on Hakeem?" He said: "COACH, it is soaking wet under there!" LOL. The center was drenched with sweat and dripping between the legs! Man, that was sure funny.............I guess you had to be there. Did I mention it is HOT out there? We have a few bumps and bruises to deal with, but this is quite normal. Luckily, the kids are dealing with the heat very well, and there has been no issues. We are diligent in our water breaks. Tomorrow we go in full gear. Should be fun.
The school has these huge washer and dryers that we use to launder our practice clothes and our game uniforms. These clothes don't get magically washed and folded, so guess who gets the job of doing it? That's right! The Coaches! Anyway, the kids smelled so bad today, that Coach Miller volunteered to stay and wash the clothes himself. Our gas dryers get extremely HOT...hot enough to burn if you are not careful. The tips of Miller's fingers look like those little red cherry's you put on top of Ice Cream. It's not supposed to be funny.....but it really is! We will get a good laugh again tomorrow, and file it away for future ribbing. Isn't the life of a coach exciting?
I was able to spend some time with my Dad and Step mom this Summer. They have a great house (or cabin) in a "holler" of Eastern Kentucky near Hazard. They have a pontoon boat on a beautiful scenic lake, so they usually spend a lot of time fishing for Crappie (Specks) during the summer. Unfortunately, this summer has been exceptionally hot and uncomfortable for them, so not much fishing is happening right now. Like I stated in an earlier blog, my Dad was a legendary brutal football coach in the Louisville area. This was a time when forced busing (De-segregation of Louisville public schools) broke up the public schools. Many of the public school kids were now attending the large catholic high schools in the area, so they naturally became football powerhouses. My dad received an invitation to scrimmage Bishop David (BD) on their home field. Dad had about 25 kids (dressed in practice gear) loaded on the school bus, and the team headed straight into the lions den expecting an informal controlled scrimmage. Dad's team gets off the bus, and there was about 100 BD players (warming up) dressed in their full game uniforms. The coach walks over and Dad says to him: "I thought you said this was just going to be a scrimmage?" The Coach says: "That is not the way we do it at BD." The game started: Within three plays Dad's team was in the end zone. Then again. Then again. Dad's team beat the piss out of BD for embarrassing them. The BD coach comes over and says: "WHOA, WHOA, Coach, this is just a scrimmage!" Dad said to him: "That's not the way we do it at Stuart High School!" LOL. I love hearing Dad tell that story.
I also spent some time in Kentucky this summer at a class reunion. I am still very close to some of my classmates, so I really enjoyed spending some time with them. In our area, the neighborhood literally grew up together......from early grade school through high school. We are all still very tight even today. It's funny how you can connect with some people. I have a friend like that. We have know each other for about 40 years. We will check up on each other regularly with a simple text message: "You OK?" Somehow, the messages seem to come at the right times. I love our class reunions, and there is not a day goes by that I don't think about my classmates at least once. A few year's ago when Kristin was still in college, I invited her to join me at a "family day" (reunion) at a local restaurant in Louisville. Kristin had a good time meeting my friends. She said: "Daddy, it was nice to see how close you guys are...now I understand!" Some day I will end up back home in Kentucky...one way or the other.
I'm done for tonight.
What a great picture!!!!...and you are welcome... Us coaches have to look out for each other. You are right about that laundry...you could cook a turkey in the dryer in about a hour. The reason the laundry gets done is so we look like a team. More importantly, when the kids look good and wear the colors they are more confident. It gives them ownership in the program and we it stands for. I really enjoy seeing our boys doing things as a team and doing things together. If these boys can come together and count on each other...this could be a special year for Shark Football. We have a core of kids that work hard and will do anything asked of them. I am very proud of the work they do and the commitment they have.
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