Flag Football

Last winter Christopher decided he wanted to try out flag football. Of course, we were already one week into the season but we were able to find a league that would take him. We signed him up for the 10-12 year-old league. He had just turned 10, but he is a good athlete so we figured it would be a good fit.

I liked the structure of this league. It was 2 hours per week on Sunday afternoon. The first hour was practice and the 2nd hour was the game. His very first practice, he was given the medal for the week. The word for the week was "Listening" and his coach said the "new kid" did the best job listening. I think it was a few more weeks before we went from "new kid" to Chris.

Christopher learned quickly and it didn't take the coach too long to figure out that he was also quick as the dickens.

Did I mention that they decided to combine leagues so he was actually playing 10-14 year-olds? There were kids out there with facial hair - not a very fair match up, but I digress. The coach designed a special play for Christopher and the kid (I guess I didn't do any better with names than the coach did) who usually played quarterback. (I would say almost facial hair, but definitely growth spurt.)

QB would hand off to Christopher and then CBT would make a little shovel pass back to the QB. It was awesome and amazing all at it. Christopher just completed one of those passes here. (I confess these pictures aren't nearly as good as other sports - it was just plain too cold to get out the good camera.)

While he just seemed to small to me out there, that didn't stop him. He was quick. He was part of the play whenever he should of been.

He's making a great play here - trust me, I know he's tiny. He "ripping" the guy with the ball. ("Ripping" I learned was what you said instead of "tackle." Makes sense.

Short season, but it was fun.

Can't Get Enough Sports

Well, this has been quite the week.  Since last chatting with you, Keith and I went to the that incredible Alabama game.  I had forgotten how much fun an Alabama game can be.  Over 30,000 people singing "Sweet Home Alabama"...wow.  It's just very cool.  This morning our pastor was explaining the difference in hope and expectation.  I thought the Alabama-Clemson game would have been the perfect word picture.  We all hoped we would win.  (Of course, here the "we" are Alabama fans for the many of my friends who aren't Alabama fans.)  But, I'm not sure how many of us expected Alabama to win.  Those victories are that much sweeter.  To top it all off, just before the game started I looked over to see a couple that I knew from Tuscaloosa.  Keith had asked me if thought we would see anyone I knew - "Nah, what are the odds that we would run into to someone?!"  Gary's (the guys of the couple) parents were/are like a second set of parents, especially when I was in school.  Their daughter Mary Barton was a frequent "playmate" when she was a tiny thing up until I got my first job.  I even got to campaign for Gary in his first run for City Council way back when.  What are the odds, but I am glad that we saw them and had a chance to briefly say hi.

Sunday we had the  criterium where we got to see my cousin Lisa and her family.  I want to  give a big shout out to her son, Nathan, who had an excellent race.  He won a very hard fought one - it came down to the finish, real cat and mouse end.  It was fun to watch and we were all proud to see him come out on top.  (He has the green kit on in this picture.)  The Frazier team was happy for him, too, since they had been to camp with him (and probably because we didn't have any guys in his age group if truth be told.)  I enjoyed my visit with Lisa.  It seems none of us really keep in touch the way we would like.  

 Maybe that's why this little blog  continues - I feel like I might be doing a slightly better job  with that now.   James came in 2nd in his race after learning a bit of strategy.  He had a teammate who 

refused to work with him the way a teammate might, i.e., the teammate did more drafting off James and another teammate than taking his turn.  It was good because James was able to talk to his coaches about what to do in that circumstance and how to force the issue.  (In case you're wondering, you just sit up and slow down to 2 mph if you have to.  Especially, when the leaders are so far ahead as they were in this race.)  I am always amazed at how much strategy there is to this sport.

The weekend brought a triathlon for James and Christopher.  Some of you know that triathlon is how James got into cycling to begin with.  He was in 4 or 5 last year (I can't remember).  He gave them up to focus on cycling.  Christopher decided he wanted to try it.  Christopher usually participates in sports to: 1) make friends, 2) have fun and 3) get exercise, not necessarily in that order.  During t-ball when he was little, he used to remind of that on the way to practices.  I think sometimes just to remind me he wasn't James, who was all about keeping score and winning.  About Thursday Christopher had a wave of anxiety and nervousness, which first seem to be about the swimming.  He had never swam 4 laps at one time.  After a very long discussion, I found that it wasn't about swimming or about finishing, but about WINNING!  Where did this come from?!  Had my children somehow been switched?  No, James was still concerned about winning (even though he hadn't swam laps all summer because of the broken arm).  It was an interesting window into the soul of my second child, whom I thought I knew so well.

 It was a tense 48 hours- would he do it or wouldn't he?  We lived through it and we were all at the transition area by 6:45 am on Saturday.  Both boys did very well.  James won the junior division for the 2nd year in a row.  (The junior division is 10 and under so next year he moves up - we'll see if he still wants to do it.)  Christopher, my sweet, non-competitive Christopher, came in 2nd in his age group and 11th out of 53 in the division!  We were so proud of both of them, but especially Christopher.  He has had a year of facing his fears and conquering them.  From there he went straight to a soccer game - I don't know how he did it.  He kept giving his all even though you could tell his tank was totally empty..

 

Maybe now our fall can get to a normal schedule.  For us, I'm not sure what that means, but I am sure that it will be something sports related.  Stay tuned....