I arrived at the school about 30 minutes early to start getting the water situation taken care of. Since we were scrimmaging on the big field, for the first time this year I iced down the battery operated water cows which we use for games. I completely rebuilt both of these machines last season, and this year they both received new batteries. I also iced down the coil cooler for the home sidelines. Bethel arrived and actually started dressing the field with yard markers, and boundary markers. All the coaches arrived on-time and you could feel the anticipation in the air. This was a big day for all of us.
We ran a modified practice this morning before the scrimmage started. This was to benefit the college scouts and the fans who were seeing this team for the first time. We even ran a 7 on 7 drill before the scrimmage. This was unusual...but fun. I threw out a 'Dig' at Mason before we started scrimmage about being so taped up. I said: "looking kind of taped up there p _ _ _ y! Mason is almost family, so I can get away with saying that! Mason just smiled, and I could see the look in his eye....he was ready. Then, the Defense decided to walk across the field to the visitor's sideline. By this time, I was getting amped up, so I started the verbal assault between coaches. I fired the first one across the bow, and Miller and Perry quickly answers back. I love doing this, and it is all in fun. I love these guys.
The scrimmage was pretty even. The defense was really getting after us, but we still managed to move the ball. We took the opening drive all the way down to the 1 yard line, and the defense stiffened and stopped us. Both units went back and forth all day long, and we (as coaches) got a good look at some young players who may help us this year. I am going to move on from writing about the scrimmage further. Lets just say it was a good day. Calvary Church had a nice lunch available for everyone after the scrimmage ended. We all enjoyed it.
It was great to see our kicker today. He has been out for a couple of weeks due to an injury, but he was booming them today. This player (a great soccer player too) has a tremendous leg, and he is a real asset to this team. He puts most of the kickoffs through the endzone which means the opposing team always starts their offense on the 20 yard. This is huge for us. Besides, if this young dude misses the endzone, it just pisses him off ; therefore, he is not afraid to get the tackle on a breakaway. Just a hard nosed kid who happens to be a kicker. He wont need football to attend college, but he will be a D-1 quality kicker anyway. Generally speaking, kickers area strange bunch. Kickers generally practice by themselves and they all have their special rituals to get ready to kick. Personally, I don't say a word to them before they kick. I may say something like (keep your head down) after a miss, but that's about it. Coach Wilson normally handles the kickers, so I just watch. I am not jinxing anybody!
When I coached Panther Senior Football, I had a player named Larry who who was just a little bit.....off. He just wanted to be part of the team and wear the uniform. I discovered that Larry could really kick a football off a kicking tee. Problem was that Larry ONLY wanted to kick, and that's it. He would line up for a kickoff, kick the ball down field, and SPRINT directly off the field. LOL, he truly did not know any better. We would be on defense, and I would see Larry run onto the field. I would say: "LARRY, where are you going?" Larry would say: "COACH, I want to kick the ball!" You just never knew when Larry would run onto the field. I used to have Larry's friends Jamall, Tony, and Tiger help me monitor Larry.
Jamall, Larry, Tony, and Tiger all lived in "musicland" which was the neighborhood bordering my own. I used to give the boys a ride to practice and bring them home again. Then, I invited them into my home for lunch and let them swim in my pool. That may have been a mistake. LOL. The boys really had a great time playing and swimming in the large in-ground swimming pool. I cooked out on the grill, and we had a nice day. I told the boys: "You guys can come back anytime (I am home) to swim!" The next weekend, we played on-the-road in Melbourne. We played that evening at 5pm; however, I was going to bring the boys up earlier so I could watch a few games. I told all four boys to be ready in the morning. At 6:30 am I hear the doorbell ring. I open the door, and all four boys are standing there with all their equipment stuffed into their helmet..... dressed in their swimming trunks. Larry says: "COACH, we want to get in that pooooool!" I said: "GUYS, its 6am in the morning, GO HOME!" I assumed they went home, but they were sitting on my porch again at 8:30 am ready to swim.
I will write more tomorrow. Tired, going to bed.
GZ
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