I was going to make a new thread with this post, but it would have gotten buried here anyway so I decided to just do it here. I'm sure just about nobody will read this, and that's a shame, because there are lessons to be learned for players, parents, and Coaches of "little kids." It's long and will probably bore you, but so what, I just have to type it out.
I posted many months back that my son was an OL for his Pee Wee team. He hates to run the ball and hates to tackle. He's happy right where he is. NO monster stats for Josh, he just quietly does his thing.
Josh plays for the "Rams" in the local Pee Wee league. They had a pretty good team last year, but this year was to be a rebuilding year. They started the season 0-1-2 but somehow rebounded to post a 4-2-3 record and make the playoffs, one of four teams to do so in a 10 team league. Their prize for doing so? They catch the "Vikings" in the first round of the playoffs which was yesterday. The Vikings were the defending "Super Bowl" Champs and went 8-0-1 this year. They beat our Rams 22-0 back on September 10th. To make matters worse that day, one of the Rams star players (John Y.) broke his arm the day of that game and showed up with his arm in a cast. That pretty much demoralized our kids from the get-go, and it showed in the final score.
All of last week my son was not feeling real confident about the game with the Vikings. Based on their first meeting, it was obvious why after the drubbing they took. This past week in NEO the weather was terrible, about 45 degrees and raining every day, yet the Rams coaches insisted on having these little guys practice in the cold and the wet until it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. This group of kids love this stuff however, and you could just see their anticipation level rise with every minute they were on the field, with the Coaches putting into thier heads that THEY were the dangerous team, that THEY were improving every week and were a better team then when they played the Vikings 7 weeks ago. Rumor had it that the Vikings didn't practice at all last week.
The key to stopping the Vikings is to stop a kid named "Bam." "Bam" is 9 years old and can absulutely dominate this type of game. He's good for a few 50+ runs every game. He is a stud and will be a High School star in about 6-7 years. The Rams answer to "Bam" is a kid named Marcus. Marcus also seems to put up a 50+ TD run every week, is by far our MVP but is certainly not at the same caliber as "Bam."
Oh well, onto yesterday's playoff game we go. The game was a defensive struggle from the get-go. Pretty much traded punts back and forth and went to halftime at 0-0. The Coaches and the kids were psyched, they actually were playing even with the Vikings and knew that anything was possible.
The second half began with the Vikings getting the ball. (Posessions start at the 35). First play is "Bam" to the right for 10 yards. Second play is "Bam" Outside and down the sideline for a 55 yard TD run. Our kids hold on the 2-pointer, 6-0 Vikings.
For the rest of the 3rd quarter and well int the 4th, the Vikings hold our Rams to nothing. A few first downs but no serious threats. With 3:28 left in the game, the Vikings score again to make it 12-0, and amidst the chants of "Super-Bowl" from the parents of the Vikings players, our kids hold on to stop the 2-pointer, 12-0 Vikings.
Our kids "last gasp" at winning this game ended as fast as it started, as they fumbled on their first play, giving the Vikings the ball at the Rams 30 yard line with 3:20 left. Our kids did "sack-up" and held the Vikings on downs. The "punt" put the ball at the Rams 5 yard line with 1:58 left in the game.
The Rams tried to mount something to get out of the hole, but after 3 futile attempts they had a 4th and 6 from thir own 10 with 1:38 left. Somehow, Marcus managed to get outsiede to the left, down the sideline and toward the middle of the field. He was finally caught 65 yards later at the Vikings 25 yard line. We as parents were going crazy, only because we thought our kids had a real shot at not getting "shut out." Losing is one thing, but to be able to at least score would make things much better. The kids hustled up the field, got set pretty quick, and "John Y" took a handoff up the miidle 25 yards for the touchdown. (Yes, the same John with the broken arm, he is playing with a cast with a ton of padding on the outside.) Then, in a scene right out of "The Longest Yard" "Bam" cheapshots John a good 5 seconds after he crossed the goal line unscathed by burying his helmet into John's spine. John has the wind knocked out of him so bad that it took him about 1 minute before he could even catch his breath to cry. We as parents were irate, and the sideline taunts were getting pretty bad. We were yelling to the officials that "Bam" should be ejected and should be suspended from the "Super Bowl" next week (which is where the winner of this game would go). They did call a personal foul, giving our kids the ball at the 1, and our QB snuck in for the conversion making it 12-8 with 58 seconds left.
As we on the sidelines continued to bitch about what had happened, we watched as the kids took the field. The Vikings quickly took a knee on first down and the Rams used the second of their three time-outs, 54 seconds left. - The Vikings again took a knee on second down, our Coaches elected to let the clock run. The Vikings took the delay of game, 15 seconds left. Vikings had third down and 15 at the 30, ran a play to the left and gained about 5 yards, Rams used their last timeout. With a 4th and 10 at thier own 35, the Vikings for some reason decided to run a play rather than "punt" the ball to the Rams 30. They gained another 5 yards, and with 7 seconds left in the game turned the ball over to the Rams at the Vikings 40 yard line.
What's left is still a blur. The Rams Coach huddles the kids up and they get to the line of scrimmage. THEN, every player on offense runs about 15 yards to the left of the center.THEN he brings back a guard, the QB, and Marcus to where the ball is to be snapped. What you had was the center,right guard, QB, and Marcus lined up at the middle of the field and the entire rest of the team was lined up 15 yards to their left. The Coach was yelling at our kids to position them properly so they were all "proper." Rather than calling a timeout with all the confusion, the Vikings elected to play on. With 2 OL's to block 8 linemen, the Rams QB took the snap and quickly pitched left to Marcus. At that point, all the "misplaced" Rams players camed back to their right, and systematically picked off every Vikings defender with great blocks, springing Marcus around the left corner and down the sideline for a mind-boggling 40 yard TD run as time expired giving the Rams a 14-12 WIN.
The Vikings didn't go quietly, however. Loudmouth coaches who were willing to fitstfight the referees got their two cents in, one was actually "tossed" after the game was officially over.
Oh well, NOW it's Super Bowl week for us and I as a parent couldn't be prouder. Not just of what our kids accomplished, but proud of what all that cliche crap really means when it comes to fruition. Lesson wise:
#1. YOU NEVER GIVE UP!!! For God's sake, read what I just wrote
#2. Work hard. Rams practiced all week, Vikings didn't practice
#3. Play fair. After the personal foul on our kid, I looked at my dad and said "If there is any justice in this world, the Rams will score on this play (before the last play of the game).
#4. Coaches should always encourage. Our Coaches always scream and yell at our kids, things like "C'mom, You're a good player, Go get'em." Never put a kid down or embarrass a kid. I see enough of that every week.
Any way, that was way too much info about:
THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED"
And by the way, it was. Peace.