It's regional championship night. For me, that means taking a bus full of parents way down to Indiana's toe to watch Columbus North and Castle. Should be fun, if rather chilly. There's something kind of special about watching the next generation play a sport you played about 30 years ago.
Even when I've got no more kids playing, I think I'll still try to make the time to get to the high school games on Friday nights. The whole experience of sitting in the bleachers, watching the kids on the field, their classmates in the stands, the band, the cheerleaders, the concession stands; it all evokes memories of special days that we can relive to some degree by revisiting that high school stadium on Friday night.
Tim's had ups and downs for his senior year. On the up-side, he's been on the field more than in any one of his 5 years playing football. A perennial benchwarmer, even though he still has been unable to break through the starting lineup, he has seen some decent playing time and been able to contribute with tackles, a fumble recovery, and even a touchdown catch! On the other hand, a sprained ankle and maybe a little time in the coach's doghouse has kept him off the field for 5 games.
As an admittedly biased Dad, it's been a little bit frustrating having him on the sidelines when healthy while believing he could be contributing on the field. Once the winning combination was identified by the coach, he's stayed with the starters only until a game is well out of reach, which means at least a 28-point lead. By then, Tim doesn't really care if he plays, because he feels the playing time is meaningless. I don't blame him.
Even though I may have had some more success as far as playing time in my high school football days, I certainly never caught a TD pass (I was a lineman). Our HS team, especially in my senior year, was in a rebuilding phase with a brand new coach. Coach Mirer was a great coach, though. It really didn't surprise me when just a few years after I graduated, my alma mater won the State Championship with my brother David on the team.
There are a few noticeable changes since my high school days. Weightlifting has become a huge factor - we just had a Universal machine, but even then conditioning was focused on leg strength, neck strength, and speed. It would be more difficult for me to play with these bulked-up weightlifters given my 1974 6'2" 180 lb playing size.
The CN Bulldogs are expected to beat Castle, but a business acquaintance in Bloomington who's son played the same team in the Regional a few years ago tells me it's a tough place to win. He felt their visiting Bloomington South team was hurt by "homer" officials who overlooked constant fouls by Castle while flagging non-existant violations on the visitors to wipe out big plays. I certainly hope that's not what we'll see tonight.
Even with a win tonight, virtually nobody gives the 'Dogs a chance against their Semi-State opponent, the winner between Warren Central and Ben Davis. On the other hand, nobody around the state really knows very much about this Columbus team that came out of nowhere to win a share of their conference championship and beat very good teams to get this far. Let's hope they can sneak up on that next powerhouse opponent to get into the dome Thanksgiving weekend.
Go Dogs - Beat Castle! Go Tim - show them your stuff!
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