I have always complained that the introduction of the practice bubble at UT is what made the Longhorns soft, since it got the players out of the sun and practicing in the comforts of air conditioning. Today, I got to experience what it is like being in there, and it wasn't all fun and games. Baby A had his first football camp ever there, and it was an experience for sure.
The day started out great, once we got inside it, I thought. We got there early; the camp started at 1:00pm, we got there around 12:30pm. The line to get inside was long but moving briskly. There was a practice facility right outside and it was brutally hot, I was thinking it was going to be murder being out in the sun during the hottest part of the day. Moving inside was so nice, for the first hour, maybe. It took about that long to get things moving along. The boys were all run through a long line where they were weighed, measured and generally treated like cattle to determine all sorts of abilities. They were given a chance to show their 40-yard speed, their jumping ability, and stuff like this. All the while, I was enjoying the fact that it was probably 20 degrees cooler in the bubble than it would have been outside, maybe it was 80 degrees when we walked inside.
By 2:00pm, the actual camp started with a loud air horn being blown. All the boys ran to the middle of the artificial grass field, like salmon running upstream. The field looked so inviting, I took my sandal off and regretted it immediately. There are little rubber pebbles in the grass, and it seems sticky. I didn't feel like I got them off me until I got home and showered. The power of 200-300 boys running around for three hours just sucked all the comfort of that once comfortable dome and turned it into a steamy sauna. Within an hour of them starting so many drills, I was humid and sweaty myself, and there was nowhere to really go. The boys were broken up into groups of 30-40 kids and we were allowed to follow along and record their activities, which was fun, for the first half hour.
By 4:00pm, I was done. I was contemplating going outside, maybe running to go buy a drink somewhere, anything to get out of the curse of that bubble. I finally noticed another parent drinking from the Gatorade and water for the players, there were stations set up all around the field. I asked him if they were allowing us to grab a drink, he said "they don't want anyone to pass out, go ahead." I went up and asked the girls manning the table and they said "Sure, go ahead." The 2 tiny cups of Gatorade made it possible to tolerate the last hour. I know these are first world problems, but it was suffocating in there. At one point, I was standing too close to the water station as they told the boys to go drink water and it was like a Whataburger kitchen came at me, you know, that smell of onions hit me hard.
The important thing is that Mijo had a good day. He was so nervous all week, but after it was said and done, he handled himself well, as I knew he would. The last hour and a half, there was finally some contact between offense and defensive players. It was probably the best part, seeing the boys go against each other, with coaching and tips from I have to assume UT players and maybe assistant coaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment