Yes, the Cougars lost another one, I love these boys, but it doesn't surprise me, at this point. They just don't seem to have enough quality players. After the game, we do the usual routine, the team has a small meeting on the field, we go down to the rail, the boys come and we greet them, tell them we love them, all the boys we know come and tell us their highs and lows, we tell them to shake it off, it'll be fine, and the sting starts to disappear. Mijo came up to us and seemed fine, he was a little disappointed but gave us the "I'll see you all at the school in a little bit."
We left, it took the buses another 10-15 minutes for the teams to get there, including the band, then the small bus for the trainers, then the actual football team. These games are a huge production, in terms of people required for games to happen. I guess because of Covid, the last few years, it was just the team a lot of the time, so the support of so many people is just great. Either way, we had a good spot where he could see our car, so we just sat there, I called my mom to tell her the score and the highlights.
When he got to the car, he was quieter than normal, I figured he was a bit mad, but I had just hung up with mom, I wasn't focused on him, he didn't play, so I wasn't worried about him having any new bruises or pain, other than his knee. I said whatever, maybe "you hungry?" He gave the weakest "yes" he could muster. Then Wife started with her jibber jabber, and he sounded like on the verge of tears. I told her to read the room and just let him have a moment. We drove quietly to Southpark Meadows to look for an open place to get some food. We got Jack in The Box; Whataburger was just packed around the restaurant.
Once he got talking, he mentioned how frustrating it is, everyone keeps asking him when he is going to play, he is not in a brace, or anything that indicates he is injured, so he looks ok. We are getting a lot of parents asking us when he is getting on the field too. He was trying to talk to his friend with the bad back and that he should rest it. His friend told him they need somebody to lead the linemen on the field, so he is trying to be strong for the team. I guess this got him hot and he went and asked the coach if he could play next week. He then said the coach pulled him into a separate room and told him he won't be playing next week either, he needs him ready for the district games, so he just needs to settle down and wait.
He has been hoping to come back, he feels helpless and watching his team suffer and losing hope. A week ago, they were taunting him to quit, and all the seniors would follow him out the door. I think that is when the coach made them run until they threw up to get it out of their systems. Mijo does not have quit in him, but he is getting to the edge of his patience, he wants to compete, this is his last year, and he sees his precious few games left wasting away, week in and week out.
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