Football, Part II -- The Highs and The Lows

Being involved in coaching the past couple of weeks and watching our high school varsity team practice, I can fully say that I'm 100% involved in the sport. Earlier this summer, it was about softball, but as the weather becomes a bit cooler and everybody starts talking Super Bowl and fantasy football drafts, you cannot avoid it. The rip of the cadence, the popping of the pads ... ooh, yeah ... football is back!

Last night, our varsity played their first game, a non-conference game. The weather was damn-near perfect for a football game and the result was even better -- a 19-6 win on our part. Our offense looked solid in which we scored on our first two possessions, but it quickly became a defensive battle after that.

A big question mark for our boys was our offensive line, but they prevailed in such a way that it opened up big holes for our running backs to pick up yardage in chunks. Other than that, I was disappointed in our pass defense, in which it seemed like our defensive backs were slower than slow. In the second half, the opponent really exploited that weakness, but our rush defense really kept them in check.

That opening win for our own gridiron gang may be our lone bright spot in our season, and on a personal note, at all levels of competitive football. We will soon be facing conference opponents (like next Friday night) and combine that with my under-achieving 8th grade team, it'll be a tough season to bear. Hopefully, they will prove me wrong.

At the other levels of football ... well ... who can say anything more about my beloved University of Michigan Wolverines losing their home opener to Appalachian State, 34-32. I guess it was fortunate for me that I DON'T get the Big Ten Network (the only channel that was carrying the game) because I probably would've pulled out all of my hair (of what's left of it) in a fit of rage. I spent most of my afternoon watching the Virginia Tech-East Carolina game, eagerly awaiting updates from Rece Davis from ESPN on what was going on.

With the 4th quarter looming and the Wolverines down by only five points, I began to receive phone calls from students asking me "what the world was going on?" I told them all not to panic ... and sure enough, Michigan running back Mike Hart pulls off one of the most impressive runs I've seen in a long time to give the Wolverines the 32-31 lead with just a few minutes remaining in the game.

Later on, as I nervously watched the ESPN ticker at the bottom of the screen, it soon popped up that Appalachian State was up 34-32 on the result of a field goal. Time was dwindling with less than a minute remaining, when Michigan quarterback Chad Henne hooked up with a receiver on a long bomb, inside the opponent's 20-yard line. In comes the Michigan kicker to save the day ... but lo' and behold ... all hopes are dashed for a come-from-behind win when Appalachian State blocks the field goal (and from what I heard later, that was the SECOND blocked kick of the day).

Ever since then, on every channel that I've been flipping through, they all have to just keep twisting the knife. Even when I'm watching the NASCAR Busch Series race at California ... let's bring it up. Okay, fine ... the #5 team in the nation lost.

I got to give it up to Appalachian State. Analysts are griping about how Michigan should have rolled over the obvious weaker opponent, but App. State has won the past two Div. 1-AA (I don't care what they call it now ... it's still going to be 1-AA to me) and their offense was simply potent. Michigan lost a lot on defense from the year before due to graduation and the pro draft and nobody can expect the Michigan offense to pick up the slack.

The National Championship is out of reach ... but I can always hope for the Big Ten. Please, please, don't make me cheer for the Gophers!

At the professional level -- nobody's giving the Vikings much of a chance. Sports Illustrated is projecting a 6-10 record for the boys in Purple, but I'm more optimsitic than that ... I'm predicting 8-8. On a personal note, I will be seeing the Vikings live for the first time in a couple of years as I'm heading down to Kansas City to watch my first ever professional sporting event that is played outdoors, having being accostumed to the Metrodome my entire life. Hopefully later on I can expand my horizons a little further with a trip out to Denver at the end of the year.

At the fictional level -- I've finally dusted off my old copy of NCAA Football '07, taking the Gophers (I had the pick them, I "created player" wasn't good enough for the top 30 teams) from where I left off to their 3rd straight National Championship. It was a banner year in terms of winning massive amounts of accolades and hardware. I think a Gopher took up all of the spots for 1st Team All-America except for 3, including bringing home the Maxwell, Walker, Bednarik, Rimington, Groza, Best QB, Best Wide Receiver, Best Tight End, Best Offensive Line, and Best Linebacker awards. It was nuts.

I thought it was all going to come to an end when I faced off against Texas in the National Championship, when I left for halftime in a deficit, 28-7. But through a miracle, I held them scoreless in the second half and came back to win my 3rd in a row, 38-28. My created player is now considered a legend, breaking almost every receiving record imaginable. Also, I decided to pass up the pro draft and come back for the senior season. At the end (with a 4th championship, no less), since I don't own Madden 07, I will probably continue the Dynasty in a coaching capacity, taking a lowly team and bring them back to prominence (I'm thinking SMU -- a program which raised stars like Eric Dickerson -- which basically died during the "Death Penalty" in the late '80's due to mulitple NCAA infractions).

Football. The Highs and the Lows. This season will probably kill me before it's over.