Matthew's name being called!

Now, normally when Matt's name is called, it isn't positive, but this time it was. You all know that Matthew is playing football this year, and we are all very proud. He does not play a position on offense that will ever get his name called, because he plays on the offensive line, but on defense, he plays linebacker and saftey. I have signed up to run the chains at ALL of his games, even though they only asked us to sign up once. But, I can't sit in the stands. I'm not a parent, I'm a coach and I don't care to hear what parents usually have to say. It is very rarely positive and you have a bunch of would/could have beens talking. Not my thing. I run the chains to be as close as possible to the action and I don't have to hear all the shit-talk of the idiots in the stands. First off, these are 3rd and 4th graders. They shouldn't even be playing tackle football in front of fans (parents). They are coached, thereby limiting them to a certain position at a very young age. The reason he hasn't been pushed to play at all, and never will be. Secondly, you have kids that don't want to play, but fathers who were not so good see their buddy's kid playing and think, "Man, I was as good as him, or better, when I was in highschool", so the kid plays and hates it. These same kids have the potential to be outstanding and are now locked into whatever position they get put into by a coach who is not qualified and has a very biased opinion may not even play by the time they reach highschool. The coaches on Matt's team have all of their children playing all of the skill positions on offense, even though Matthew catches the ball better than any one of them, yet he is not even the third team reciever. I brought it up, but it fell on deaf ears.

Matt has progressed much faster than I thought he would though. On defense, I predict he will be a starter by the end of the year. He has gotten aggressive, and really likes to "hit someone" as he says. As long as you can follow the ball at this age, you don't need much else. You just have to get there, and we have worked on angles and form. He's tough, no doubt about that, but he's smart too, so the things I tell him really sink in, just like Nat in softball.

Last game, he didn't play a whole lot, but his team kept the ball on offense for most of the game, and I don't care if he plays offensive tackle or not. But on defense, he made a touchdown saving tackle from the free saftey position and got his name called on the PA system by the announcer. WOW, he heard it and was pumped. Usually at this age, the saftey doesn't get a mention, because you start so far back from the action, but when you make a tackle of the opposing team's running back, all by your self, you get a mention. He did good, and I am very proud of him and his team. This team did not score a touchdown last year, and last game they scored two touchdowns. They won 14-0, in a large part due to Matt's TD saving tackle, he preserved the shutout, and everybody on the team got stickers for their helmets for it.

If anyone has a chance, grandparents take note. You should come see him play, he might surprise you, and the games are fun. I will list all of his remaining games below, just remember, I will be in the blue Nike shirt on the other side of the field running the chains, not sitting with you, but you still have a place to stay and we can talk after the game.

Jim

September 30th at noon
October 7th Open date
October 14th at 10 am
October 21st at 2 pm
October 28th at 11 am]

All games are in Alvord Texas, just take the 1655 exit, go east to the first paved street, turn north to the school, and the football field is behind it. $3 for adults and $2 for children to get in, but we will gladly pay your entry, just let us know.

Tommorrow, I will let you all know about why I haven't been blogging.

Again,

Jim