Is it strange I generally post the Waiver on the same night as Date Night? Perhaps not so much, given the contrast between moving into the weekend of football and celebrating my love for the Lady Talis. Often during this season it feels like I’m reminding myself that I need to be focusing on love on Wednesday’s before giving myself over to the anxiety of watching my boys do what brings them joy and what brings me joy to watch them do successfully. They have been successful as of late. There’s that at least. No, there are not the wins I’ve been looking forward to, but for each team there is a reason and there is a will.
The High School Saga
The Desert Vista Thunder are a terrible football team–at home. The more I watch them, the more I understand what is happening. On the road, these kids are dealing with less social interaction. They are forced to focus on the football side of it and not deal with the pressures of knowing who is in the stands or trying to show out in front of this one or that one, and especially not trapped in the comfort of their crappy locker room and all of the social dynamics attached when the coaches step out of the space. Road games are isolating, but they also keep the focus on football. The trip by bus to a game is a bonding experience. The group of players on the sideline for a road game is different. You lose the non-travel players and the JV kids and, basically, all the folks who make being there at home a difficult fit. I’ve watched this team lose themselves twice during home games. I’ve watched the turnovers, the infighting and blaming, and lack of cohesion on the bench turn itself into turmoil and losses.
Road games hit different. They beat a good team on the road last time out. This time they play a bad team. Let’s see if they can bounce back from dropping two in a row.
College Rules
There’s a concept in college football called The third Year. This is the presumption that it takes three years to rebuild a program. Nowadays fan bases are tough and greedy. They don’t want to wait three years and coaches don’t want to risk that impatience and lose their jobs before that 3rd year hits. Colorado is a clear example of that, though they’ve actually managed to turn the corner. You cannot really tell because Prime rushed it. He hit 2nd year success and had to given the fact his son and best player (Hunter) were leaving that season. This 3rd year will likely not be as good… It is not that way for my son and the UNC Bears. They ought to be 3-0 and are on the verge of making big noise in the Big Sky. This weekend’s business trip to Houston marks the last of the out of conference games. A win will leave them 2-2 and looking at a conference schedule where every game is winnable. They’re a much better team than the one that only amassed 1 win in the previous two seasons. I think they can make the playoffs, but it has to start with a win on Saturday evening.