I AM TOO OLD FOR THIS!
Not the real Cranky...stunt Cranky
Lately, I
root for my teams, but if they lose I don’t take it badly…at least not for very
long. Except for when my son is playing.
My youngest,
Spencer, is playing football in his senior year of high school. When your son is involved you first root for him
to not get hurt. Next you root for him
to not make any major mistakes. Then you
root for him to play well. Of course you
root for the team to win. Finally, you
hope that your son makes a big play to win the game.
My son is in
Massachusetts, or as I call it the state with the missing “R.” (Think Paak yaah caah.)
I live six hours away. It is a
major event to see him play in a game.
Mostly I have to “watch” on my computer.
There is a site that updates the score as the game is played. It is usually about 45 minutes behind.
On Friday
nights I am glued to the computer. Every
ten minutes I go to the web site, refresh, and hope to see something good
happen. Several hours after the game
there is another web site that allows me to see a replay of the game.
This week,
Spencer’s team, North Andover played Methuen.
Every time I refreshed the site, the score changed.
7-0 NA
7-7 tie
14-7 NA
14-14 tie
14-21 M
21-21 Tie at the half
21-28 M
28-28 tie
28-35 M
34-35 M
34-35 M FINAL
ARRRRGH!!
This was a
tough one, and now I had to wait several hours for the game to be available in
replay. Spencer plays almost exclusively
on defense as a cornerback. With the team giving up 35 points there was a good
chance he did not have a good game.
It turns out he
played very well. All the points against
them came on the other side or up the middle.
Spencer pretty much bottled up runs to his side, and there was very
little passing. He had ten tackles, five
where he stopped the runner in his tracks and two shoe string lunges that
stopped big gainers.
In the
fourth quarter with the clock running down, NA intercepted a tipped pass. I was curious how NA would score their last
TD, and with Spencer on the bench I could at least relax.
On fourth
and ten, the NA quarterback dropped back to throw and just before he got
clobbered let go a beautiful pass. The receiver, five yards ahead of two defenders, made a nice over the shoulder catch
without breaking stride and galloped another forty yards to complete a 70 yard
touchdown.
Who made the
catch? That gait looked familiar. I ran it back. The receiver wore white gloves. Spencer wears white gloves. The number was blurred…1 something. Spencer is number 18. Run it again…stop…wait…run it…stop…NO SHIT! Number 18.
Spencer was in on a rare offensive play and he made the touchdown catch
that almost won the game…almost…on the extra point they went for two and were
stopped.
Spencer's catch.
Picture quality is not too good.
My son did
not get hurt. CHECK
He did not
make any mistakes. CHECK
He played
really well. CHECK
The team
lost a heartbreaker. No check
He made the touchdown
catch that gave them a chance to win. Almost check
Dad did not
get to sleep until 4 am.
Next week we
are driving north to watch his game from the stands.
I am getting
too old for this!*
*It gets worse, I just checked the newspaper account of the game, and a backup QB whose number is not on the roster was incorrectly given credit for Spencer's catch. ARRRRGH!!
*It gets worse, I just checked the newspaper account of the game, and a backup QB whose number is not on the roster was incorrectly given credit for Spencer's catch. ARRRRGH!!
I would do that for my son too :-)
ReplyDeleteI think I was born too old to sit in the stands of any sport. Congrats to your son on his play!
ReplyDeleteKids are yours until you die. We root for them, worry about them, love them and give up time for them and I would write the editor of that newspaper to make a correction.
ReplyDeleteDo it--Spencer should put it in his scrapbook!!
DeleteYou sound like one proud poppa, and with good reason.
ReplyDeleteIt must be so fun watching him play (even if it's on a computer screen). Make sure you are rowdy enough to embarrass him when you go to the game next week.
ReplyDeleteAs we say around here when the games get so close as to be nail biters, are these kids being paid off by the local cardiologists to drum up business!?!
ReplyDeleteHow cool!
ReplyDeleteMay I add that my college, Texas Tech, aka "Harvard on the Plains", is in DESPERATE need of some good defensive players, and on offense they are always in the top 5, with a wickedly good passing game. He could probably write his own ticket. Just sayin'. ;)
Oh the last part was the worst part. Only the inner circle knows that Spencer did this great works. Yes, I can see where you're too old for this, but you're proud and you should be.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
Just as well you weren't actually there -- you'd have had a nervous breakdown! Well done, Spencer!
ReplyDeleteWe never stop being proud of our kids(and grand kids), even when we get older. It may be hard to keep score or even stay up through the game,but when results are out (or in) we will be proud of our children win or loose. Winning obviously is something to be proud of and loosing still proud for trying.
ReplyDeleteThat was one nail biter game and how cool that your son almost won it. Be proud Cranky. I really like the order in which you root. Wish all fans felt that way even when they don't have a son in the game.
ReplyDeleteI was a Brooklyn Dodger fan for many years when I was a kid. The 1951 season taught me the "agony of defeat" and many of their years taught me not to suffer for a lost season. As we used to say, "wait 'til next year!"
ReplyDeleteNO! That's even worse than not getting credit for buying a big salad! At least you got to see it on your computer. If you only read the paper, you would have missed his touchdown.
ReplyDeleteAustralia is a whole continent with the missing R, except for the visiting yankee tourists. We don't pronounce our Rs and a lot of the time our Ts get lost too, we put 'buddah on our bread and drink waddah with our meals, and so on. Australian "English" is very lazy.
ReplyDeleteOops, I meant 'wardah' not waddah. (water)
ReplyDeleteThat was a heartbreaker. Spencer did his part and more. I'd be proud too.
ReplyDeleteYears from now the score won't matter one bit - only that Spencer had a dad who was proud of him and watched his games like a hawk - whether from the stands or on that computer thingie! He'll remember how good it felt - and then go on to do the same for his own kids.
ReplyDelete