End of the Season

Saturday night at 5 we had our last football game of the season.   There was a coaching shake-up at half time of last weeks game so things were a little different this week.  They came up with a substitution schedule so the kids were moving in and out of the game a lot.  It worked out so much better.  Jay said it was stressful with the kids running in and out, BUT he didn't have to do much controlling on the the sidelines.  The kids were engaged in the game and Jay said they all seemed like they had a much better time.  It's kind of sad that it finally got fun the last week, but they all survived.  Jay and I were so happy this was the last game.  We were so tired of the 2 hour 2 times a week practices.  After the game was over the head coach had them in a huddle and was passing out instructions on when to bring back their equipment and stuff.  Then he left them with some parting words that almost made me cry.....Basketball sign-ups are in two weeks.... 



Cade is third from the left in this picture.  We could always tell which one was Cade because his helmet was always crooked.  And it made him hold his head to one side.  Someday when he has to visit a chiropractor on a regular basis (he is part Fowler so I know will have to see a chiropractor) they will probably trace all of his problems back to 3rd grade football and the helmet that made his head go to one side.



 Here he is after the game looking tough.  He was very disappointed that he has to turn in his football pants.  He really doesn't want to do that because if he plays next year he might end up with someone elses pants.  And in his words "I don't want anyone elses pants because you have no idea what could've been in them".  He is definitley my Grandma and Grandpa Ewing's grandson!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday & Tuesday Night Lights

In the world of Flag Football in our little town the big nights of the week are Saturday and Tuesdays. Actually these are probably bigger nights to the coaches than to the kids, at least our kids. As far as Cade's concerned it's just another night he gets to see Neilson. For us (the parents) it's another night that's becoming more and more embarrassing because our team is so terrible. You all know Jay and I aren't the type who cares more about sports than we do the feelings of our child, we would never yell and scream at him because he didn't do something right on the field (yes, I have witnessed a father screaming at his 6-7 year old because he didn't like the way he threw the ball). BUT, our team stinks and it's not the kids fault. Our coach has not worked with the kids like he should've been so every game we are getting skunked. We have not even scored one touchdown. What's embarrassing is that we are in a league of 5 other teams all from Mt Vernon. In Mt Vernon's eyes Miller is the "bad" town. The Mt Vernon paper always picks up on the bad stories from the town/school and they make the front page. Our good stories are always buried at the back of the paper. I know that's typical of newspapers everywhere but it is so irritating. So then when our team plays bad everyone thinks "well that's typical of someone from Miller". I get angry because we as parents and the coach are feeding into that way of thinking. Then the town will wonder why these boys High School team isn't any better. Maybe if we'd start at age 6 instilling a little school/town spirit into them and help them to change their way of thinking things would be better when they're older? Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now. I don't care if we win I just want the boys to be able to give it a decent effort. At least their still too young to realize.

Here are some pictures from Saturday night. The sun was shining right in my eyes so I couldn't tell what I was taking pictures of so they aren't the best.

Here is some of the other team practicing before the game. Their coach was calling out plays and all sorts of things.


.
Our coach was late...here's our kids playing with tires before the game


Cade is the snapper and Neilson is the quarterback. Neilson isn't much better than Cade. One time Saturday night Neilson tossed the ball to Cade like it was the Hot Potato Game. It was funny.

Here's another one of the two of them.

We have another game tonight (insert big sigh). I hope we can at least score 1 touchdown before the end of the season.

Flag Ball

Flag Football is the name known by 99.9% of the world's population. In our house Cade refers to it at Flag Ball, sometimes it's easier not to argue. Our first Flag Ball game was last Saturday and it was quite an experience. It rained during most of the game which made it highly enjoyable (not) for the spectators. Cade didn't know what he was doing, but either did most of the rest of the team. As a highly protective mother I was comforted by that fact....if my baby doesn't know what he's doing I don't want anyone else to know either! The one time Cade got his hands on the ball he proceeded to run straight out of bounds. He had no idea what the white boundary lines meant. Towards the end of the game he got to snap the ball - we were so far behind and so close to the end of the game that when he picked the ball up and moved it about 5 feet no one cared. The ref's ignored it, the parents had a good laugh. But one thing that Cade did better than anyone else on the the team, then probably anyone else in the history of Flag Ball was he could pick up the flags. It didn't matter how far away he was from the action, once that flag hit the ground he was there picking it up for the person it got ripped off of. It didn't matter who's flag is was - our players or the other teams - Cade picked up the flag. He may not be the best player but he could win the award for most courteous. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

Game #2 was Tuesday night, but we took Cade to a 4-H meeting instead. We heard the outcome wasn't much better than Game #1. Game #3 is tomorrow evening so maybe it will be better?