Are You Ready For Some Football?

On August 2nd, my boys started tackle football.  Both boys played flag football in CA, but this year is their first year in pads.  Actually, Cooper was supposed to start tackle last year, but he got shot at a parade, so, you know...that didn't happen. We had been advised, and we agreed with the advice, to keep our kids in flag until Jr. High to avoid injuries and to teach them the game without the obstacle of pads.  So Cooper has played 5 years of flag and one year of full contact rugby and Isaac has had 3 years of flag.  Here in Idaho Falls, well, that's not how they roll.  Kids start tackle in 5th grade, the end.  We figured Isaac had a good base and would be fine and Cooper was already chomping at the bit to play, so we went ahead.  It also gave them a chance to make friends before school started.  They love it...well most of it.

I know I've talked about sea-level lungs before, but you can't really get it unless you experience it.  The air up here is thin, very thin.  My kids aren't out of shape and they got winded coming up the stairs.  It's better now, but for that first six weeks things that required breathing were tough.  Well, the fist week of football practice is all conditioning.  Even the kids that live here call it Hell Week and they don't have oxygen intake problems.  That lethal combo brought us the following conversation after the first day of practice:

Me:  "So, how was practice?"
Cooper:  "Awful.  I kept thinking, 'It can't get any worse" and then it kept getting worse.  Then at the end we had to run laps and at one point I tripped and I fell down and I just wanted to lay there for the rest of my life, which I figured wouldn't be that much longer."

My boy is funny.

Isaac's coach was a little easier on them, since most of the kids had never played before.  Isaac may have never tackled anyone before (which has found a true love for) but because he had three seasons of flag under his belt has come out a little star.  His coach has put him on the both the O and D line, which confused us because Isaac is a runner and is pretty fast, but then we saw his first practice scrimmage and got a good look at the rest of the team we realized that Isaac was one of the biggest kids on the team.  There are kids on there that aren't that much bigger than Evie!  Hmmm...if I had a kid that size I'm pretty sure my first choice in sports would not be tackle football.  I said to Ben that at least at that size they're fast, and Ben said if you had someone twice your size chasing you trying to put you in the ground, you'd run fast too. Good point.

So both boys started games this week and it looks like it will be a good season.  Isaac won and Cooper lost, but they both had a blast and that's what matters. 

So, what, might you ask, does Evie do during all these many hours that we spend at the football field?  Well, she lies on the grass and makes up songs to sing.  At Isaac's last game she made up a great one.  I can't recall the tune but the lyrics went like this:


I hate football
I hate football
I hate, hate, hate, hate football.
I want to go home
I want to go home 
Because football is stooopid,
I ha-a-a-a-te, fo-o-o-otBAAALL!

Someday, baby girl, they are going to have to sit through your dance recital, and then you will have your revenge.