Morning Friend,Amongst the veritable cornucopia of topics I could discuss this morning, none seems more appropriate, ( given the time of year, and my wont to write about things I am passionate about), than Football.Now perhaps you're not a fan of the game?Perhaps you're not interested in anything "sports-minded" this morning?Before you go reaching for the "delete" button, let me assure you this is not about the "sport" of the game, but rather its' ESSENCE.Having played the game at a high level until a nasty shoulder separation, separated me, from aspirations of one day playing professionally, I consider myself qualified to expound on the "Ballet of Violence", that is football.Despite shrinking student enrollments, the number of teams in our province's High School Football League reached a record 30 teams this year.This is not only reflective of the game's popularity amongst fans and players, but of its' innate "character building value" by parents and school administrators.A football program is costly to run, but factored into the thousands of dollars required to outfit a few dozen players are the intrinsic benefits to the school's spirit and community pride.From my perspective, the dollar value is insignificant when one considers the incalculable value of the Life Lessons and immeasurable character development the sport offers.One might say that any team sport is essentially a worthwhile tool in teaching good values such a teamwork and commitment, but in no other sport but football, are these lessons HAMMERED home with such agonizing aplomb, and succinct savagery.Many who watch a 60 minute game are unaware of the countless torturous hours the players have spent in preparation.Just the act of "stretching" ( a painstaking and strenuous affair essential for performance and injury prevention ), can take up to an hour and is done before every practice as well as games.As you're watching players get tackled and practically bent in half in the process and you're wondering how they survive the ordeal, it's because they stretched themselves nearly in half before game time.Hand in hand with flexibility goes supreme physical conditioning; the result of months in the weight room, endless hours of drills, and miles of running, followed by more miles of running.I wouldn't go as far to suggest that my High School coach, the irrepressible and dynamically deranged Len Sitter, had sadistic tendencies, but his maniacal demeanor would almost soften to a happy grimace when there was PAIN in the air.He lobbied fiercely against draining the mosquito-infested swamp behind the practice field at St. Paul's because of its' ergonomic suitability for "dry-land training".Like all beloved and respected coaches though, he had the ability to unearth the "man within the boy".And while there are of late some women playing football at the college level in the U.S., football is an extremely violent, Manly game.It is a game of split-second precision and raw power.It is a game requiring intense courage and poetic coordination.It is a game with nurtures selfless temerity and extreme physical and mental toughness.It is a game about which the late great Earl "the Earthquake" Lunsford coined the phrase, "Grab grass and growl!" ; in reference I suppose to its' primitive and yet poignantly earthy essence.It is a game which develops camaraderie and builds character.It is a game where success is measured not in individual performance but by TEAM excellence.It is a game mirroring life's lessons which I'd venture to say has passed by the "troubled" youth we read about in the papers these days; kids that are grabbing the wrong kind of grass and "prowling", not growling.And while there is a rare few professional ball players who aren't perfect role models for kids today, the truth is most of them are.Booze and drugs are not synonymous with success in any endeavor in life, but least of all in the rigorously demanding game of football.To coin a phrase from an old 1950's Blue Bomber fight song,"...we're the boys from the Bomber Crew,we don't smoke and we don't chewand we don't go with girls that DO!"Now you might be saying my friend, that your boy is too "slight" or "timid" for such a maelstrom of vigor?Well if you look at the "handsome" nappy-headed young #79 with the "baleful stare", in the accompanying photo, you'll see a skinny-as-all-get out "bean pole" with the gentle heart of a lamb.But put him out on a football field and that lad became transformed into a rampagingly fearless 165 pound wrecking ball with the heart of a pissed off lion!And he most CERTAINLY did his best to avoid any of the aforementioned "girls that DO" !
love tImMy:/
Laugh as much as you breathe...Love as long as you live ( Crusading!)
