Thursday night! Your mom and I are headed for Elkhart Lake to watch a Thursday night showdown of the two titans of youth football, Elkhart Lake vs. the Sheboygan Badgers (coached by Grasshopper No. 4). If the Badgers keep winning, they have a shot at being the champions. Trophies. Pictures. Banquets. A parade down 8th street. For 11-12 year olds, it doesn't get any better.
It was like stepping back in time and viewing the world from my Dad's eyes. I was watching youth football in all it's innocence. The teams are outfitted in pads, they have cletes on their shoes and helmets. It was very official.
The night was cold. Very cold. It smelled of leaves. It smelled damp. It was definitely a fall football night.
I did learn a few things. First, there is no effort to coordinate color of uniforms. The Badgers were in red. The Elkhart team was in red. Who is tackling who? Actually, Elkhart had a darker red approaching maroon. The players seemed to know who was who.
Then I learned team members don't sit on the bench. One of the Badger coaches kept yelling, "get your asses off the bench and pay attention".
Then I learned you don't talk about anything but football on the sidelines or you get "batted" on the helmet. "Talk football guys, talk football".
Included in my observations was that you always put you biggest player in the center of the defensive line and you clog up any runs that come your way.
On offense, you run simple plays "ad infinitum, ad nauseum". Just about the time you anticipate another simple run is coming from the Badgers, they run a double reverse so that nobody knows who has got the ball. That is when they score.
I have to admit that we left at half time (because of the bone chilling cold) with the Sheboygan Badgers leading 16-0. My assumption is that they won. They certainly had the better team.
I will say that Coach Paul seems to have a "command presence". He totally "runs" the offense and the team responds well. Imagine that. He has a plan and he follows it. The kids like him. The assistant coaches like him. The parents like him. His parents love him!
Oh yeah, Dominic helps out. The last time I looked, he was sliding down a slippery hill next to the field and his mom is going to be washing grass stains for a long time. Fun is fun!
Love,
Dad