To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Football, week 2
Since yesterday was Saturday, it was football day for us. (oh, wait- most days are football days for us). We had to be at the field by 8am, which is a bit early. (It ended up being a good thing, because, by the end of our game it was really hot and sticky.) Before the game, T1 and I have to get the giant water containers filled, get the paperwork in order, and make sure everyone associated with our team is where they're supposed to be. (On a totally random tangent- why can't announcers pronounce names right? I handed the man a roster, WITH the names spelled out phonetically, AND I pronounced each name for him- some twice- and he STILL got most of the difficult ones wrong. Almost made me have a Dean moment. But I digress...)
The game was a lot closer than the final score (18-7) portrays. It's always a good thing when our star player breaks free and runs the ball in for the TD as if there wasn't a large mass of angry kids tailing him. But the other team's offense was impressive, and we made some offensive errors (number one being that they obviously can't count- the ref will throw the flag if there are 12 guys on the field, but he'll just shrug his shoulders and let 'em play if there are only 10.) But there were definite signs of improvement from last weekend. (and T2 had his name announced from the PA 2 or 3 times for good blocking, so that was my proud mama moment.)
Did have one little problem, though... wasn't sure what to do... knew what I wanted to have happen, but... as you may know, T1 "quit" the team to be the team manager (he likes the game, hates to play it). His teammates had questions, but were cool about it. Until yesterday. One of the boys (the youngest kid on the team, so I'm not sure if this was immaturity or idiocy on his part) called T1 a "baby" for not playing football. T1 did a "whatever", but came and told me because he wasn't sure what he should do. He didn't want to tell the head coach, because that coach would have come down HARD on the kid, and T1 didn't want him to necessarily get in trouble, just talked to. So he told me. [I'm not a "normal" mom when it came to my first reaction- I didn't want to cuddle him up and make it all go away- I wanted T1 to rip the brat's helmet off and beat the crud out of him.] I told him that this kid was being a little jerk, and I'd take care of it. (Of course, I wasn't going to talk to this player- imagine how that would work- T1's mom takin' care of business 'cause T1 can't or something like that.) So, I talked to one of the other coaches- the one almost every kid loves. He talked to the player, asking him if he thought the coaches were babies because they don't play football. "Well, no." "And you're not God's gift on the football field all the time, are you?" "Well, no." "Then go apologize." But, guess what... no apology ever came. So, T1's going to mention it to the coach, and we'll see what happens. (I'll admit it, I still want T1 to beat the snot out of that kid, for both of their stakes, but... the kid's not a bully- he's just not too bright- T1's bigger than him. I don't want either of them to get hurt- I just want this young child to understand that you can't toss insults around or you're gonna get pounded. Such is the way of boys.)
After the game, we came home, ate lunch, and then I napped on the couch. Then, I did another part of my "team mom" duties- organized the cookie dough order. (anyone want to order some cookie dough? too bad... it's already been turned in...) I had to double check each order, making sure the $ in the envelope matching the amount due on the sheet. Then I had to put the entire order on a spread sheet, counting up the amount of each dough ordered and the total amount due (we sold over $2k in dough, and that's just one team). Then I had to go and turn it in, where the "cookie dough chairperson" went through the order, counting $ and making sure it all made sense. (I HATE cookie dough! I HATE cookie dough!- I say that now- I'm sure that will change once I get the dough in the freezer).
After all the games were played yesterday, it looks like only 3 teams from our league (out of 8) can still possibly advance to playoffs. (There are 22 teams in our league, but 14 of them are too young to advance. But, that would be irrelevant anyway- they're not doing very well, either.) And we're one of them. The parents are trying not to get too excited, and we're trying not to say much to the boys- we don't want to get their hopes up, just in case. But... anyone know how to do fundraising quickly and when you're not sure if you'll need the $? Just checking... If we make it, getting through Regionals won't be a big deal- we'll probably only have to drive 2 hours at the most. But, if we win there, then it's off to Orlando, and that's gonna cost some big bucks. (I was told about $800 a person, at least.)
Next week our game is against a team from our own league. So far, they've shown spirit, but not a lot of points on the board. We'll see what happens.
The game was a lot closer than the final score (18-7) portrays. It's always a good thing when our star player breaks free and runs the ball in for the TD as if there wasn't a large mass of angry kids tailing him. But the other team's offense was impressive, and we made some offensive errors (number one being that they obviously can't count- the ref will throw the flag if there are 12 guys on the field, but he'll just shrug his shoulders and let 'em play if there are only 10.) But there were definite signs of improvement from last weekend. (and T2 had his name announced from the PA 2 or 3 times for good blocking, so that was my proud mama moment.)
Did have one little problem, though... wasn't sure what to do... knew what I wanted to have happen, but... as you may know, T1 "quit" the team to be the team manager (he likes the game, hates to play it). His teammates had questions, but were cool about it. Until yesterday. One of the boys (the youngest kid on the team, so I'm not sure if this was immaturity or idiocy on his part) called T1 a "baby" for not playing football. T1 did a "whatever", but came and told me because he wasn't sure what he should do. He didn't want to tell the head coach, because that coach would have come down HARD on the kid, and T1 didn't want him to necessarily get in trouble, just talked to. So he told me. [I'm not a "normal" mom when it came to my first reaction- I didn't want to cuddle him up and make it all go away- I wanted T1 to rip the brat's helmet off and beat the crud out of him.] I told him that this kid was being a little jerk, and I'd take care of it. (Of course, I wasn't going to talk to this player- imagine how that would work- T1's mom takin' care of business 'cause T1 can't or something like that.) So, I talked to one of the other coaches- the one almost every kid loves. He talked to the player, asking him if he thought the coaches were babies because they don't play football. "Well, no." "And you're not God's gift on the football field all the time, are you?" "Well, no." "Then go apologize." But, guess what... no apology ever came. So, T1's going to mention it to the coach, and we'll see what happens. (I'll admit it, I still want T1 to beat the snot out of that kid, for both of their stakes, but... the kid's not a bully- he's just not too bright- T1's bigger than him. I don't want either of them to get hurt- I just want this young child to understand that you can't toss insults around or you're gonna get pounded. Such is the way of boys.)
After the game, we came home, ate lunch, and then I napped on the couch. Then, I did another part of my "team mom" duties- organized the cookie dough order. (anyone want to order some cookie dough? too bad... it's already been turned in...) I had to double check each order, making sure the $ in the envelope matching the amount due on the sheet. Then I had to put the entire order on a spread sheet, counting up the amount of each dough ordered and the total amount due (we sold over $2k in dough, and that's just one team). Then I had to go and turn it in, where the "cookie dough chairperson" went through the order, counting $ and making sure it all made sense. (I HATE cookie dough! I HATE cookie dough!- I say that now- I'm sure that will change once I get the dough in the freezer).
After all the games were played yesterday, it looks like only 3 teams from our league (out of 8) can still possibly advance to playoffs. (There are 22 teams in our league, but 14 of them are too young to advance. But, that would be irrelevant anyway- they're not doing very well, either.) And we're one of them. The parents are trying not to get too excited, and we're trying not to say much to the boys- we don't want to get their hopes up, just in case. But... anyone know how to do fundraising quickly and when you're not sure if you'll need the $? Just checking... If we make it, getting through Regionals won't be a big deal- we'll probably only have to drive 2 hours at the most. But, if we win there, then it's off to Orlando, and that's gonna cost some big bucks. (I was told about $800 a person, at least.)
Next week our game is against a team from our own league. So far, they've shown spirit, but not a lot of points on the board. We'll see what happens.
