Great Practice

During the past weeks, I encountered a few "preseason" jitters amongst teams, coaches, officiating crews, and of course myself. That's why everyone scrimmages. I was very impressed with football crews, when they made an obvious mistake, met after the fact and spoke about it.

There was one game this week where I overheard the crew say something like - "that play should have never have happened, should have been standing over the ball until all officials were ready." Things like that impress me. Officials practicing. I like that. Officials not answering coaches questions on a penalty or something that might help their kid, not a big fan.

Yes, I saw that. Kids getting thrown out of preseason scrimmages ... not a big fan. We all love athletes that play with a ton emotion, but control and discipline is major part of the game. It amazes me how more players are not tossed out soccer game. I overheard a few comments (basically questions to refs) that shocked me. Shocked that they were said? No. Shocked that a ref would listen.

So, remember, these were all just practice games. Time to win spots. Time to sharpen our skills. Time to prepare and try out all the stuff! Here's why we practice - this was on the board for a few minutes of Thursday's Scrimmage at Roxbury:

Finally, when you call my cell, you'll hear the Michigan Fight Song. No, I hate Michigan, but love the song. It really is a great football song. I actually enjoy seeing Michigan lose. More so, I love the underdog! But the best part is when I was watching ESPN and I heard that Appalachian State carried off their head coach Jerry Moore. I have an odd sense of humor, so, in honor of Gerry Moore, our new teacher and coach at Hanover, here's a picture of Jerry Moore being carried off the field by his players. (* This may spark a string of practical jokes amoungst myslef and my new collegue. *)