I Watched Every Second Of Every Play With a Goofy Grin On My Face

2008 Friday Night Lights – Week 6

A week ago Thursday I helped out with the spaghetti feed for the team. On parent night there were sign ups to help with an assortment of things, mostly selling programs and t-shirts. I looked over the list of help needed for the spaghetti feeds and deemed that my sorta thing. B said most weeks they had just had store bought stuff. But- I have the time and decided to make brownies (from a mix of course) and cookies. Bren didn't want any fancy brownies (Reeses, Turtle, M&M, or Oreo.), so I made them plain. Store bought frosting on top of brownie mix baked as package instructs. B didn't want any undue attention on him because of his mom's brownies. Fine!! Fine! Fine. I assured him- they will just be regular. --Well, a week ago Thursday, I made brownies and a few dozen cookies, packed them in an old Costco water bottle box and set them on the tables in the cafeteria. I left before the coaches or team arrived because they had plenty of help and my daughter had soccer practice.
Apparently this was the beginning of brownie mania. The head coach loved the brownies, hunted down the source and this past week in practice kept bugging B about hooking him up with some more brownies. This past Thursday before the feed in the locker room the head coach talked about B's mom's brownies and asked him if they were getting any that day. (They weren’t and the coach let B know he was a little disappointed.) B reports this is the most the coach has talked to him all season. Poor B- all he wanted was for his mom to bring in food that wouldn't cause a stir. Oops!!
Anyway- The report: It's week 6- Our team is 4-0 in league play. 4-1 overall, so we've gotten better, and were lucky enough to have played all of the easy teams first, hopefully establishing a little rhythm. Last night, we tried to get to the game early, but I'd misplaced my season pass so I had to talk my way in to the game for free which I successfully did. I had also ordered a team football blanket and had to go pick it up under the stadium which table happened to be located next to the popcorn stand- Why not? I thought. I returned to the 30 yard line with a warm blanket and warm popcorn. H was not there. I scanned the area and saw that he had found us new seats. The student section had been growing and encroaching on our view of the end zone the past few games so he opted for higher ground and over a little on the 25 yard line. Good enough for me. By this point in the season I knew the routine. Sit, half-way pay attention, visit with friends, watch the crazy students, and wait for us to be far enough ahead by the 4th quarter, that B gets in for a few minutes. H and I were both doing just that. And this week we were lucky enough to have some loyal friends sit right next to us. Shortly into the 2nd quarter I was watching the game and saw a non-starter number coming off the field. I began pounding H on the knee, unable to speak. The score was 6-0, but although winning, we were struggling with offense. "What!!!" H asked. I pointed and blundered out a fragment--it's B!! He was just coming off of the field, so we had missed him for the few plays he was in. This continued throughout the game. No passes were even attempted to him, but he was getting some real field time. This changed the game for me. I watched every second of every play and was thrilled each time 21 ran in and sat motionless with a goofy grin on my face while he played. Our team took control of the game and by the 4th quarter, we were winning well enough that 2nd string (B and company) was playing consistently. We heard the announcer call his name twice on tackles- that was cool. By the end, the stands had been emptying for a quarter's worth of play so there were few there when the team ran into the tunnel which happens to be by the 25 yard line. B was one of the last to exit the field; I stayed waving with my other son, Y, until I knew he'd seen us. "Good Job B" I said quiet enough that only I heard it.
As I swiftly moved toward the car- it was freezing, literally, I noticed I was humming the school's fight song. This sure was fun. So- I know what you're thinking. Was it the undue attention on the brownies that got B noticed, or was it stellar performance on the practice field? Neither. B thanked his teammate Cody (1st string WR) in the locker room for sitting out the game with a deep thigh bruise. "No problem B"- he said- "you looked good out there!!"
Brownie mania turned B-man mania- at least for me!
To be continued...