Grinding it Out.

 

FOOTBALL:  THE OLD SCHOOL WAY

 

 

I love this old photograph taken in 1963.  #5 Paul Hornung, #63 Fuzzy Thurston, and #64 Jerry Kramer walk off the field after a tough game against the Chicago Bears.  The old Packer teams were not flashy, but they were tough and physical much like our team is today.  Now days, you will very rarely (if ever) see professional football players walking off the field looking like this.  I really miss these days. 

 

As promised, Bethel punished the piss out of the players who missed practice yesterday....and I am not sure it is completely over.  Say what you want, but Randy does hold EVERY player accountable for their actions.  Again, we are teaching "The Lessons In Life" which will be remembered the rest of their lives...much after their football career is over.  Like my son Mike says: "Dad, I use those lessons everyday in the Army!"  These lessons are something the public (who judge us) never see.  Yet, some people sit in the stands yelling and screaming obscenities at us because their son may not have played much.  Yes, we hear the criticism, but we choose to ignore the stupid comments.  Always remember this.  The coaches have each other's back, and we will fiercely protect each other if our backs are against the wall. 

 

Today's practice started out great.  Miller led a spirited stretch period, then we went straight to PAT/Field Goal.  Our Kicker was BOOMING them from 50 Yards.  Nice!  Then, we went straight to INDY.  Since Coaches Jefferson,Washington, and Wilson were out today, Randy worked the D-Line and I worked the WR's and QB's and helped Coach Simmons with the RB's as well.   I thought we had a GREAT Indy period, and I got some one on one time with the Wide Receivers (WR's)  Hakeem and Hatch were throwing well today, and the WR's were happy to get some new drills and routes to run.  Finally, we brought the Offense together for a good UNIT period.  I was calling the base plays to review and CRACK!!!  Lightning struck nearby.  Damn!  We all ran inside under the stadium, and then the MONSOON came.  Big and thick raindrops completely soaked the area.  During a lull in the storm, Bethel took the kids inside to review film and condition them upstairs in the courtyard area.  All in all, it was a decent day, all things considered. 

 

After Randy took the kids inside, I stayed behind to clear the field, and help set up the Game field for the JV game at 6pm.   Our young kids came out of the locker room wearing BLUE on BLUE and I thought they looked great.  I really had a nice time hanging out with some of the coaches in the end zone and helping Joe Nathaniel (Head JV Coach) on the sideline occasionally.  Unfortunately, their game against the Vero Beach JV did not turn out much better than ours.  I think the final score was 27-0.  However, the kids fought hard and the game was much closer than the score indicated.  It's fun to watch the young players make freshman mistakes, and it is just as rewarding to watch the young players have some success. 

 



 

Kirby and Kelsey always make PawPaw feel better.  

I desperately miss my Grandbabies. 

 

Later.

 

GZ 





"Laboring" on Labor day

 

Always Ready

 

 

Black Stetson Hat  

 

Toujours Pret (French- Always Ready) is the motto of Mike's (my Son) US ARMY unit.  Mike is a member of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (Second Dragoons) based in Vilsek, Germany.  The Black Stetson Battle Hat (and boot spurs) are earned when the Cavalry Unit returns from combat duty.  The Stetson is considered to be an official part of the soldiers uniform. I also think it is SOO cool.   When Mike returned from Afghanistan, I unexpectedly received a box in the mail one day.  Inside of the box was this brand new black stetson which immediately became my prized possession.  The Blue Cord surrounding the hat means INFANTRY SOLDIER.  The Cross Sabres also signifies 2nd Cavalry Infantry , and the little gold pin on the top signifies Mike's rank at the time (Specialist)   Many of you will remember this hat that I proudly wore during our warm-ups last year.  Coach Bethel allowed me to wear this hat to honor my son serving in the Army.  I only wear this hat when I am dressed in my SRHS Coaching attire (on our home field)  and I wear it with pride.  Unfortunately, I also wear headphones on the sidelines, so the hat is taken off before the game starts.  Now, you all know the story of Coach George's Black Hat. WWW.TCPalm.com  also ran a nice story of the hat last year. 

 

 

Mike Wearing Hat and Spurs 

 

Today is Labor Day, so YES, we "labored" this morning  in a normal Monday practice.  I arrived at school at 7:30 am this morning and went straight to the laundry room to start another load.  This time it was our under garments and socks which needed to be washed.  Once completed, I iced up our coolers and placed them on the practice field, then I went to an offensive meeting at 8:30 am to watch game video from Friday night.  Truthfully, I could have done without that.  So, now we can move onto PSL Centennial preparation. 

 

We had a good practice; however, we were a little down in numbers.  Bethel was not too happy about that.  I guess we will have quite a few players in the punishment line tomorrow before practice.  This generally means "catch-ups" and "tire flipping."  We still had a good day of practice, and I feel like it was productive.    It's funny.  Some players want to wear the uniform, but they do not want to pay the price for doing so.  These are just a few of the "Lessons in Life" which we teach every day.  In this blog, I often tell stories of how different coaching is today than when I played; consequently, how we punish a player has really changed too. 

 

I remember when I was a freshman football player.  A teammate was caught smoking by the head coach.  The coach had this brutal punishment drill which was given to any player who he thought needed it.  This drill was called "Bum-A-Row" and I have no idea why.  The coach would line the team up in pairs (one pair behind the other)  The player being punished would be standing alone about 10-15 yards in front of the group.  He would be stationed between two blocking bags generally.  Two by Two the rest of the players would attack the single teammate and try to knock him out. We would just keep going until the player was incapacitated or until the coach said to stop...which ever came first.   It was brutal.   Can't do that kind of stuff today. 

 

Later. 

 

LOST: 27-0

 

 

 

Top:  Helmet and Decal:  Middle: Nick Cooper wearing new travel uniforms. Bottom: Hakeem Rainey warming up before our game!

 

 

OK.  Here it is.  I am sorry I have not written in my blog for a couple of days, but I have been trying to get an early start on preparing for Centennial on Friday night.  As most of you know by now, we got out butt handed to us by Vero Beach (VB) 27-0 on Friday night.  We were completely dominated by a superior team (on that night.)  We arrived at the Citrus Bowl and the atmosphere was electric.  The fans (8500 in attendance) were pouring into the stands, the bands were already playing, and VB was already on the field warming up.  I could tell we were tight after we came out for special teams.  I thought the kids warmed up pretty well, so I had hopes the tightness would disappear after kickoff.  On the contrary, it just got worse.  We had eleven (11) team penalties in the first half alone.  Just mental mistake after mental mistake doomed us.  The offense was horrible and we could not get anything going and could not get into any kind of rhythm.  We kept putting our defense in bad positions time and time again.  The defense tried to hold its own, but VB kept coming after our inexperienced players (as would any good coach) Truthfully, we have several players going both ways, and the VB depth just wore us down at all levels.   VB Coaches did a nice job preparing for us, and I offer no excuses.  We just got beat by a better team on this particular Friday night. 

 

 



 

Visitor's Sideline Press Box 

 

Its funny.  I did not hear from my daughter (Kristin) until Sunday morning.  She is such a coach's daughter that she still understands my moods after all these years!  I guess I must have put her through this type of thing once or twice in my career.  LOL.  About the only voices I wanted to hear that evening were from Kelsey and Kirby....I always want to hear from them. 

 



I did not want to get get out of bed on Saturday morning.  I was / am completely physically and mentally drained, but the real season starts right now.  We have to get our team pointed in the right direction, so this means we all have to work harder to make this happen.  I arrived at school at 7:30 am to change over the laundry I started the night before.  By this time, the JV coaches were getting their kids on the field for a full practice (they play on Tuesday night)  I went right up to Randy's room to begin breaking down the PSL Centennial/ Merritt Island game from Friday night.  So, we began the week again. 

 

Marty and I went to The Melbourne Flea market this morning so I could visit the sign shop located in this "trashy" place as Marty calls it.  The sign guys hook me up with things I need for our team.  Then, I met with Randy today at 4pm for a couple of hours.  I worked on our flip numbers and wrist bands until I started writing this blog at 11pm.  YES, we are practicing tomorrow morning (Labor Day) as is our tradition.  Bethel always said: "We are LABORING on Labor Day!"  Fact is, we need to work tomorrow.  We have so much to do.   

 

 

GOOD NEWS!!!  I found ELVIS PRESLEY working at the Flea Market in Melbourne!  I always heard he still may be alive, but I confirmed the rumors with my own eyes today.  I placed $1.00 in his tip jar today, and he posed for this awesome photograph.  He was singing right next to the snack bar, and as he was walked up and down the aisles, he swooned the old ladies while sweating all over their french fries with sweat dripping off his awesome chest hair.  His dyed-black hair color was running down his neck and making long streams down his chest as it mixed with his sweat.  I did not realize that Elvis was about 5'2" and spoke with a heavy NY accent.  Oh well!  THE KING LIVES!! 

 

More Tomorrow. 

 

 

 

Why Not Us?

 



 

Did anyone see the Vanderbilt/South Carolina (USC) game last night?  There is no way in the world that Vanderbilt should have been on the same field as South Carolina; yet, somehow they almost pulled off a major upset.  Coach Franklin and his staff did a fantastic job of preparing their team to face the #9 ranked team in the nation.  The Commodores did not look to be the least bit intimidated by the Steve Spurrier coached Gamecocks, and for most of the game, the Dores controlled the action.  It was obvious to me that Vandy was in better shape than the Gamecocks, who looked winded at the end of the first half.  (USC) RB Marcus Lattimore kept them in the game all night long.  Great Job by the Vanderbilt Commodores.  Good things are coming your way.  (Written in GOLD to honor my daughter's Alma Mater) 

 

 

Just some random thoughts before we play the Vero Beach Fighting Indians (VB) tonight. 

 

 

Underdogs?  Who says?  Much like Vanderbilt, no one expects us to win this game, and we are getting no respect from the media or community at all.  In fact, one of the local sport's writers questioned if we had the ability to score at all!  Hmmmmm.  Interesting.  I guess he forgot that we had the top rated offense on the Treasure Coast the past two seasons.  Kind of insulting to the offensive coaches at SRHS.  Did we forget what the end zone looks like?  I guess we will find out tonight. 

 

The Social Media has been buzzing all week long about this game.  Again, no one gives us much of a chance.  I kind of like that.  The pressure is on them.  We have no pressure really.  We can play free and have fun doing it........just like Vanderbilt did last night!

 

According to the media and community, I guess we should feel honored to even line up and play VB.  No one gives us much of a chance at all.  I guess the mighty VB Offensive Machine will roll over us at will.  I guess the awesome VB Defense will be too tough for us to tame.  Hmmmm.  Maybe so.  I guess we will just have to line up and play the game even if the result is a foregone conclusion. 

 

 

No one gave Vanderbilt  much of a chance either. 

 

 

ANCHOR DOWN!

 

 

Will check in after the game.

(please excuse me while I go outside and vomit)   

DONE: Ready to PLAY NOW!

 

Outside Shark's Stadium 

 

Well, its game time.  My stomach is completely tore up, and I feel like crap.  I can't watch any more video because my eyes hurt so bad,  but I feel like I should be doing something to make us better for tomorrow night.  I just got a text message from Miller, so I guess he is feeling the same thing.  We had a normal walk-thru game practice today.  We rehearsed the entire game from start to finish, and we were off the field by 4:30.  We have our game plans in place.  We have our equipment ready to go.  We are just ready period. 

 

 

I have been playing a competition game with my QB's the past couple of weeks.  I sort of learned this game from Jay Cutler when he was attending Vanderbilt University.  Let me explain.  When Kristin (my daughter) was attending Vanderbilt, she got a job working in the Athletic Department at the university.  Naturally, ole Dad got a chance to hang out with the football program while I was in town.  I attended several Vandy practices so I picked up quite a bit from their coaches and players.  I watched Jay Cutler and Eric Kressler stand at mid-field and see how many footballs they could "ping" the football off the crossbar.  It was amazing how many times these dudes could hit the crossbar from the 50 yard line.  I sort of stole the idea from them.  

 

 

Here are the rules.  The ball will be placed anywhere on the 20 yard line.  I assigned each QB with their own center to form a team.  The QB must use correct QB form and take a snap from center.  The QB will throw the football and try to hit the crossbar.  I also have a variation of this drill called "Bucket Drop"  I place a big trash can in the corner of the endzone.  The QB throws a fade route and tries to sink the ball into the trash can directly in the corner.  (I have a feeling this drill is going to pay dividends very soon)  Each miss counts as 1 point.  A fumbled snap will cost 5 points.  The "team" who finishes with the lowest score wins two (2) Subway $5.00 Gift Cards.  Next week it may be  Little Caesars Pizza Coupons.   More than anything else, I wanted to form a relationship between the QB and the center, because they win it as a team.  I guess it must look like fun, because Coach Bethel wanted a couple of shots today too.  Even Coach Willis gave it a go.  I know is sounds dumb, but we are all just kids ourselves.  Competition is good at any level.  

 

 

 Trainer Hilary Lange and her "Death Cart" 

 



 

This is Hilary Lange, and she is our medical trainer.  She has a big-time education with Elon University in North Carolina, and she does a fantastic job for us.  She is surely an improvement over the ugly guy trainers we used to have. LOL.  Truthfully, Hilary is up on the new medical treatments and emergency care, and we depend on her expertise.  I certainly appreciate everything she does.  Now, I can't say the same thing about her "Death Cart."    The last place you ever want to see one of your players is sitting on Hilary's cart with an ice bag strapped somewhere on his body.  I tell the kids all the time:  "Stay Away From The Death Cart"  unless you absolutely have to be there.  Not every little hurt has to be seen by Hilary.  Shoot.  I will look at it myself!! Generally, I just thump it with my finger and tell them to get back to practice.  Believe me, if it is serious, I am calling for "HILARY!"   She is also our "Lightning Lady!"  Hilary has this little device which measures Lightning (in the area)  I know something is going to happen when she walks onto the field holding the little device.  Next thing you know, she is saying: "That's It, Go in Now!"    Guess what?  We have to go in.  Powerful little lady. 

 

 

 JV Team Getting Ready 

 

 

After the Varsity practice today, I got a chance to go and watch our JV team practice a little.  I love watching these young dudes.   At SRHS, we have a Varsity Team and a JV Team.  We almost always assign our 9th graders to the JV team (there are exceptions)  We will send down some of our older players when they need some playing time  to get better.  Sometimes, we may be particularly deep at one position, so instead of letting players ride the bench, we will send them down to get some playing time.  We have a solid coaching staff to support them too.  The JV Team also plays at Vero Beach on Tuesday Night, so guess where I will be?  LOL.  Hey, it's FOOTBALL. 

 

 

See the Shark in the picture?  Several year's ago, our arch rivals in our district stole  the shark off the wall and held it hostage.  Back then, the Shark was mounted much lower on the wall, so it was much easier to reach.  The whole thing was documented by MTV and featured on one of their shows.  Now, the Shark is mounted much, much higher.  Have to admit though....it was a funny prank! 

 

I am done.  See you tomorrow. 

 

GZ

 



Practice Over. Getting Ready for Game

 Peyton Manning. 

 

In my opinion, Peyton Manning is one of the greatest (if not THE GREATEST) QB to ever play the game.  Believe it or not, I picked up Manning in the 2nd round of my fantasy draft. I have been so used to seeing him in the Colts uniform that the Bronco's uniform almost looks funny to me.  Manning is coming off a major neck injury, so I guess the Colts thought he was through  Too bad for them.  I think Manning will have one of his best years ever. 

 

GREAT practice day today.  We had a full practice, and everything went according to our practice plans that Bethel had prepared.  Today was our last full practice before our game with Vero Beach on Friday night.  Both units (Offense and Defense) got plenty of reps against each other, and the intensity is building with our kids.  Bethel had another motivation session with the kids today, and as usual, he knew exactly what to say to bring the kids where they needed to be for practice.  Miller and I ran the PUNT Team today, and we will hit the rest of the special teams tomorrow.  I ran the scout team again today, and I thought we did a great job giving the defense what they needed to see.  Miller and Perry both said "Great Look" to me today, so I am pretty happy about that.  As a coach, I do not want to disappoint my fellow coaches either.  Right now, we are short staffed, so we all have to step up and get it done.  I think the players sense that we are all stressed, so they are focused on the task at hand without a lot of talking.  Good bunch of kids we have. 

 

Want to hear about another water problem?  Two of the three practice fields are a wet sloppy mess.  The furthest field away- The Band Field- is bone dry.  However, we do not have running water within 200 ft of any water outlet.  So, I have been bringing out the Battery Cows (Fred and Wilma) to get water to the field.  Problem is that the players use this water up quickly, so we are constantly having to refill the water tanks.  Today, I looked over to the sideline, and Coach BETHEL himself was walking Fred and Wilma to the locker room to refill the tanks with ice and water.   LOL.  This was pretty funny to me.  Like I said, we are a little short staffed, so we all have to pick it up a little.  (Damn, I should carry my phone to the field for moments like this. ) No worries though.  I am going to the Depot for a longer garden hose to reach across the field.  Even with the drop in water pressure, the coil cow will get us by for awhile.  Or, we could just hand out the salt tablets!! 

 

 

Our Locker Room Smells

 

Have any of you ever wondered what the locker room looks or smells like?  Here is a good example.  With all the stuff laying around, it reminds me of my son's room at the house (before the Army fixed him)  What does it smell like?  Have you ever left a wet dirty towel in the bottom of a clothes hamper for a long time?   Remember that "Ripe" smell it had?  Now, multiply that smell times 80 players.  Remember, yesterday we all got soaked in the rain.  All those wet clothes sat in the player's locker all day long.  Mix the wet along with the sweat, and I think you have a good idea of what it smells like.   In a strange kind of way, I sort of like it.  I know, it's weird.  However, any coach will tell you the same thing.  It just means our kids are working hard. 

 

Sweaty Wet Players (the Big Boys) Coming off the Field

 



I have a gross locker room story before I let you go.  When I was playing, we had an RC Cola soda machine right outside our locker room.  I remember that for 15 cents, you could get a cold RC Cola, Nehi Grape, or Orange Crush soda in a can.  They sure tasted great after all those damn salt tablets  they gave us.  Anyway, there was this one teammate who would always grab your soda off the top of  your locker and drink it down.  It always pissed us all off to no end.  I decided to teach him a lesson. I made sure he saw me buying a Nehi Grape.  I drank down the can about half way, then I proceeded to fill the can back up with piss and set it on top of my locker.  Naturally, he made his way around the locker room and saw the can of soda sitting on top of my locker.  I watched him grab the can of soda and proceed to kill the can.....sort of!  His eyes got real big and he hurled all over the locker room floor.  LOL.  GOD that was funny.  We all laughed and laughed.  We had no more issues. 

 

Later  

Getting Ready

 

Stylin and Profilin! 

 



Had an abbreviated practice again today, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless.  We knew there was some rain moving in quickly, so we stretched and went right to Unit.  The kids seemed pretty focused on the task at hand, and there was not much chitter chatter among them.  This is Rivalry Week in our area, so we are lining up with Vero Beach on Friday night.   This is a big game for us, so everyone is kind of on edge right now.  This is where Coach Bethel is really strong I think.  No one else (on our staff) has played at the level Randy has played at with the University of Miami: Miami vs Florida State.  Miami vs Notre Dame.  Miami vs Penn State.  Miami vs Nebraska.  The list goes on and on.  Naturally, Bethel has the advantage of watching and hearing how Coach Jimmy Johnson, Coach Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis (among others)  handled the pressure for a big game.   I get kind of pissy with Randy at times, but today I was ready to line up and play after he addressed the team. 

 

 It rained HARD today during practice.  No lightning, but HARD rain with those BIG rain drops.  I was trying to run scout offense for Coach Miller, and I was absolutely soaked.  I talked on a previous blog about how much I hate wet shoes and socks.  Lets just say that I should have been wearing those water shoes people wear in the river.  We got in most of the practice, so it was not a completely wasted day.  Tomorrow we will split the day with the defense, so it is important to stay focused.  Vero Beach is a very good team playing in Florida's highest classification.  We are just a small school that is hoping to compete with the powerhouse program down south.  I just hope we deserve to be on the same field with them.......... 

 

 

 

 

This is a coil cooler water machine.  Again, I have rebuilt these machines so that they rarely break down.  Most of the parts can be obtained at the local home improvement store.  If you look closely, you can see one of the two coiled brass tubing covered in ice.  We hook at water hose up to one side of the cooler, the water runs through the brass coils which are covered in ice.  By the time the water exits the cooler,  it is ice cold.  The clean cold water exits and connects to the distribution manifold running across the top.  The blue hoses you see hanging is where the water exits for the players to drink.  Believe it or not, the darn drinking valves are the hardest part to keep operating.  I used the plastic hand valves (like on a garden sprayer) for several years, but these things were constantly breaking.  I found these HEAVY DUTY metal valves (made for drinking fountains) at a supply house in Michigan.  They have been a real blessing.  We now have a constant supply of water at any given time. 

 

I KNOW, I KNOW, kind of boring tonight.  Sorry.  I am exhausted.  I fell asleep (sitting up) when having dinner with Marty tonight.  I have looked at so much video that my eyes actually hurt.  I am kind of worried about my eyes right now.  They are watering and having difficulty focusing on anything.  Oh well.  Thats football I guess.  I can rest my eyes after the season is done sometime in December. 

Later.