LIGHTNING!

Today is Monday, we were supposed to begin our practice week today,; however, we were not able to get in a practice because of weather.  The rain and lightning in the area was severe. I noticed it clouding up a little before practice, but it's been so long since we had any rain, I did not think anything about it.  We got the water out as usual, and I spent some 1 on 1 time with the QB in the player's portable going over formations and such.  We walked out onto the field at 2:58 pm ready to go.  Next thing I know, Hillary blows the whistle and orders everyone off the field.  Lightning was in the area.  Hillary has this specialized equipment (actually, every public school has this equipment) which measures the air for lightning.  If there is lightning in the area, this thing will pick it up.  From this point, we MUST get all the kids off the field and under cover.  No exceptions.  Every time her machine goes off, it means another 30 minute delay.  Usually, there is a rain storm associated with the lightning too.  This is one of the new innovations I am glad to see come about.  We used to not worry about rain and lightning.  I remember when I first started with SRHS, we were standing on the practice field while it was pouring down rain and lightning was everywhere.  Then, CRACK, a lightning bolt struck the goal post upright.  EVERYONE sprinted indoors.  I think that may have been the last time we ever played with the devil. 

Florida is known as the lightning capital of the world.  During the summer, the afternoon thunderstorms roll in between 2pm and 4pm everyday, so practice is often compromised.  Actually, it's kind of aggravating.  In Florida, we do not get the big weather fronts that states up north get.  Usually, the thunderstorms come and go quickly; however, the fast-moving storms are often vicious.  Believe me, if it is pouring down rain, and there is no lightning is in the area, we are on the field.  There is nothing "cool" about practicing in the rain.  It is miserable for the kids, and it is miserable for the the coaches too; nevertheless, we must do it.  God never promised every game day would be clear and dry, so we must prepare for it.  We worry about hamstring injuries, and we worry about groin pulls etc... during this time.  Slipping and sliding on a muddy field is not so fun.  In Florida, after a big rain, we often get these large puddles of water in the swales and ditches.  When I was a young coach, it was aways a chore trying to keep the young boys out of these huge pools of water.  The players would start running and dive into the pools head first....equipment and all.

 At least the water (in the swales) is relatively clean right after a rain.  I remember back when I was a high school football player in Kentucky. Our Head Coach played ball at Western High School in Louisville, KY.  We played Western, HS that year, and of course, coach was primed to beat his Alma Mater.  We traveled clear across town and got out butts beat 28-0.  The bus ride was dead silent as we traveled back to school.  After we arrived back home, I watched our coach walk up to the school, and start unraveling a huge water hose. He dragged the hose across the parking lot into a dirt drainage area behind the school and hooked it to a fire hydrant.   All Coach said to us was: "Practice tomorrow morning 8am."  That's it.  This would be the first time we ever practiced on a Saturday morning in full gear. 

We arrived for practice at 7:30 am.  We looked out back, and the dirt drainage area looked like a small lake.  It also looked like someone had driven through the area with a car or truck to really muddy the water.  We stretched as usual, but the atmosphere was dead silent.  Coach blows the whistle to end the stretching period, and we surrounded the coach (as usual) to get our orders for the day.  Coach said: "Since we play like pigs, we will practice like pigs!"  For the next hour and a half, we ran Oklahoma drills in the muddy water.  In some areas of the make-shift mud hole, the water was over a foot deep.  I remember being on the bottom of a pile and just about drowning  because my head was buried face down in the mud and water.  I remember holding my breath and struggling like crazy to get up.  I bet that I would have been the first football player in history to actually DROWN playing football.  I will never forget that day, and I will never forget that practice.  It was absolute misery.  Needless to say, Coach got his point across.  Today, if we (as coaches) ever pulled something like that,  it would be front page news, and we would all be looking for a job. 

Hopefully, tomorrow will be dry. 

GZ