8/29/18 Thursday Afternoon Umbrellas?

    I hate to give it to the jocks because movies like Revenge of The Nerds taught us that as a group they kind of suck, but man you have to be a tough little shit to step unto a football field.  Yes, there are the dangers of concussions and broken limbs, but before you even get that far, you have to practice at the worst time of year, the end of summer.  There is no getting around the weather in Texas, come August, it just sucks all around.  Poor Javalina has been at it almost two weeks and it has been over 101-102 every day when I go to pick him up.  They were not wearing full pads until this week, but then the 8th graders wear black pants.  That has to raise their temperatures another 2-3 degrees.  I keep looking at the forecast for the next few days and I keep seeing mid 90's in a few more days, but every day is still getting up into the 100's.
    Not only do they get the worst weather of the year, because of it, the "grass" is anything but.  My boy is all scratched up around his hands because of doing bear crawls.  Of course, the mentality of a young boy filled with testosterone is that scars are good.  He wants to get scratched up, to show the other boys that he can take it.
    I thought it was cool to see my boy running with the ball this week.  I think the coaches are trying something for short distances by having him power through the line since he is such a heavy ham.  Normally though, that is another part of the sport that sucks.  Only a handful of players ever even touch the ball.  Half the teams on both sides are there to butt heads and prevent the other guys from doing their job.  For some reason, this is Javalina's favorite part of the game, smashing and seeing who is the strongest "man-imal."
    I called this Thursday afternoon umbrellas because it is not yet Friday night lights.  In junior high, the games are usually set for 5:00-6:00 and 6:00-7:00 in the afternoons when the sun still tries to cook you.  About half the games will be uncomfortably hot and humid, one maybe two games will have perfect weather and the rest will be cold or wet.  In the end, most of the school won't notice, judging by attendance at the games, and the only thing they can be proud of is in themselves.  It takes a lot for a kid to subject themselves to the rigors put upon them just to get the chance to knock pads against kids from another school, but every year, most schools find at least 22 young toughies to go at it.