Burnout

Greatwood Packers Football - Brett Game 7

On October 20th Brett's team also played the Pecan Grove Hurricanes. After the freshmen won their game, we were hoping the sophomore team could also come away with a win.

Here are the Greatwood Packer Sophomores coming out on the field before the game begins.


Brett getting ready for some football action.



Brett getting some tips from the coach. In this game Brett played nearly every play the entire game, both on offense and defense. He was tough.


Mason running the ball for a touchdown early in the game. This was looking like one they could win.

The Packer defense hitting the Hurricanes!


Packers off the line getting ready to stop the Hurricanes!


Brett chasing the running back in the back field. Brett made some great tackles this game.

Packer's defense stopping the Hurricanes.

Packers offense trying to move the ball.

Brett ready to make his block.


The Packers trying to move the ball.

In the end, Brett's team lost a heart breaker 19 to 13. After leading most of the game the Hurricanes tied the game late in the 4th quarter. Than with 4 seconds left in the game, they scored a touchdown that should have been called back. There was a flag thrown on the play for holding and then at the last minute, the referees changed their mind. I think they thought it was too hot and muggy to want to take the game into overtime so they let the touchdown stand. I know many of the spectators thought it was too hot and muggy to want the game to go into overtime as well, even on our side. It was a heartbreaking loss. We were very proud of Brett though playing tough in the heat the entire game. I think that he had heat stroke/dehydration after the game because he was not feeling well and just wanted to lay down.

One other point of note on this game was the Pecan Grove Hurricane's announcer was a jerk. I know that they are just volunteers but all the announcers up to this point have tried to be that, announcers, and not loud-mouth fans cheering on the home team and delivering disparaging remarks to the visiting team. I flat-out could not believe this guy. He was using the microphone to try and get our boys discouraged. It was a very disappointing performance and not very sportsman like to our boys.

Greatwood Packers Football - Jared Game 7

I have fallen behind on the football games by a week so I need to try and get caught-up. On October 20th the Greatwood Packers played their 7th game against the Pecan Grove Hurricanes. It was a warm and muggy day here in Houston (which is pretty much normal) as we headed to the Hurricanes field. The bleacher facilities were not as nice as other places where we have played or our home field, but the good side of that is I was able to get closer to take some pictures.

Here are the Packer freshmen in defensive action.

Packers penetrating the line.

Jared in his sun glasses on the side line looking cool.

I was able to get Jared to smile for this picture once he knew his picture was being taken.

Once Jared got his arm out of the sling, he started making himself useful as the team water boy. Here he is filling the water bottles for his team.

Jared working carefully to get the lid back on the water bottle.

Jared is so enthralled with the action on the field that he can hardly take his eyes off the game. Or, maybe not.

Jared making another good toss with his Gatorade bottle.

Packers defense lined-up and ready for action. This was a good game and the Packers won it 14 to 6. That brought their record to 5 wins and 2 losses. Jared's team has really done good this year.

On a side note, the doctor examined Jared after the game (the orthopedic surgeon's son plays on Jared's team) and declared his collarbone healed and released him back to his full activities. We knew that before by how Jared was acting and our difficulty in keeping him from hurting himself and others the last few weeks. With that release, Jared started football practice the following Tuesday. I spoke with the coach and Jared has not been doing the hard hitting drills and we decided he would not play in any games because we do not want him to get re-injured. In addition, Jared is so far behind his teammates after all this time being out that it would be frustrating for both Jared and the coaches to try and get him caught-up. So he is running with the kids to get some exercise and some of that excess energy out, but not hitting and playing. His first day back at practice the team applauded as he came out on the field. We think that helping Jared to finish what he started will be good for him the rest of his life.

Blame

Greatwood Packers Football - Brett Game 6

The Greatwood Packer Sophomore team also played the Sugar Land Cowboys. Unfortunately, this game was another tough loss for the Packers. The final score was 12-21 and despite the score, they played very well. The cowboys made some big plays because the defense did not tackle well, but the offense was solid and was able to steadily move the ball. If it were not for the mistakes of the missed tackles, they would have won this game.

The Packer offensive line making their blocks. Brett did a great job blocking as you can see in this picture. He handled the Cowboys defense all game.

Here is Brett making a block and knocking the guy down. Go Brett!

Brett with another nice block.

Brett on the sidline getting some pointers from the coach.

For each of the games, two people from each team work as monitors on the field to make sure each player gets in the game for at least 10 plays. I was one of the monitors for Brett's game this week. I thought it would be great to get on the field for an up-close look at the action, but the first half was spent trying to spot the Cowboys numbers while the guy I worked with marked them on a sheet. In principle it sounds very simple, but in practice it is much harder than it looks. The second half was good because we only had 4 Cowboys that had not met their 10 play requirement so I was able to watch more football and do less trying to read the kids numbers before the next play started. This is a picture of me on the field being a spotter. I do not like pictures of me because it makes me realize how fat I really am. I need to just sit in the stands and take pictures of others then I can delude myself that I am really not that fat and my 3+ hours of exercise each week is actually doing some good.

The Packers getting lined-up and ready to run a play.

Offensive line coming-up on the ball.

Brett making a block.

Greatwood Packers Football - Jared Game 6

Game 6 this past weekend was against the Sugar Land Cowboys. The good news is it was not so hot last Saturday. It has finally cooled off just a little bit here in the Houston Area and it made game day much nicer at least for those of us that were watching. I think it was much nicer for those at were playing as well.

Here is Jared in his normal spot on the sideline cheering his team on. Or, in the case, he might just be sleeping. I am not completely sure.

Jared on the sideline with his team. Last week he went to the the orthopedic surgeon about his collarbone and while he is making good progress, he was not released to do recess or football for at least another 2 weeks. That means the best case scenario but not very likely will be that he will be able to play in the last game of the regular season. Even if the doctor releases him to practice and play it is highly unlikly that his mother will release him. Then we start into the play-offs and it just does not seem right that Jared would come back to play at that critical juncture since he has not been practicing for so long and has been out of the system. So, it is looking like the broken collarbone was a season and possibly a career ending injury since Jared will probably not want to play next year. If we move back to Illinois, which is the most likely scenario for next year, neither of the boys will probably play football.

Some Freshmen offensive action.

The quarterback taking the ball downfield. I did not take very many pictures of this game because we found there was not much battery left in the camera. Since Jared is not playing I wanted to save what we had for his game. In addition, I spent since half-time with Brett because I was helping his team as a monitor for the day. The good news is the Freshman won the game. The bad news is I forgot what the score was. It was something like 7 to 6. It was a close game and the Cowboys were tough, but the Packer Freshmen were able to pull off a win. The Freshmen are doing good this year with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses. They have won their last 4 games and are on a roll.

Homecoming Mums Family Pictures

As promised, below are the pictures that were taken when each of the boys was introduced as part of their Homecoming games. These are unfortunatly the ONLY pictures we have with Brett and Jared wearing their Homecoming garters/mums that Lori worked so hard on. It is unfortunate that we did not have the forsight to make sure Brett had his mum on when Jared was introduced.

This is the picture of Jared and his escorts (his very supportive family) during the introductions as part of the Homecoming festivities. Jared and Ryan are both sporting their garters. Lori initially made the mistake of making two garters for just Brett and Jared, but Ryan was not interested in being left out so Lori had to make another trip to the store to get more stuff so he could have one as well.

This is our family when Brett was introduced before his game. It would have been a frameable family picuture if Ryan would have looked at the camera.

Greatwood Packers Football - Brett Game 5

Game 5 did not go very well for the Sophomore team. The Pecan Grove Gators are the defending Superbowl Champions for this age group and they were tough. Brett played on the offense the entire time and played a large amount on defense because then needed his help. Unfortunately, the Packers still lost 33-0. I cannot say that it was just because the Gators were such a great team, because that was not the case. If the Packers would have been playing as well as they have played in other games, it would have been close. But, they just did not seem to have their heads in the game for some reason. It was also extremely hot and humid that day. After the game Brett did not feel well and he did not want to go anywhere or do anything. It did not matter because we were staying home and watching General Conference on TV anyway, at least until we went out to dinner for Jared's birthday.

Brett on Defense as he pushes past a block.

Brett on defense lined-up in his 4-point stance ready to hit.

Packers defense in action.

Packers offense surging forward.


Brett making a block.

Packers offense in action.

Packers offensive line making their blocks.


Brett making a block.

Packers defense lined-up and ready for action.

Bitterness

Greatwood Packers Football - Jared Game 5

Game 5 was played against the Pecan Grove Gators. From what I understand, the Freshmen and Sophomore Teams won the Superbowl last year, so this was the team to beat. In addition, they have done some recruiting of the kids in our area to improve their teams so there is a bit of a rivalry going on. This game was on Jared's birthday and he was there supporting his team even though he could not play. While his collarbone is doing better (he was not wearing the sling) he still cannot play football yet.

Here is Jared sitting on the sideline with his team.

Jared found something interesting on the ground in front of him. Unfortunately, he does not pay as much attention to the game as I do.

This game started out tough with the Gators scoring on the opening kick-off. But, the Packers came back and scored off from a sneak play that I could not believe. The line went up but they never got set and in position. The center hiked the ball to the quarterback and he went walking toward the sideline talking to the coach like there was something wrong with the ball. Then he took-off running and scored a touchdown while everyone stood by watching. It was really funny. I wish I would have had the video camera going for that play. In this play we have the Packers in action.

Another Packer action play with a lateral to the running back.

The Packer defense going after the Gator running back.

Jared and his fellow injured player watching the game. This was a good game for Jared's team and they won it 25 to 13. The Freshman finished Game 5 with 3 wins and 2 losses. They are doing very well and have won their last 3 games.