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Monday, August 18, 2008
Football season brings hope, but concerns as well
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the best seasons of the year arrives this month when the high school football season begins.
The professionals have the show biz, the college game has the passion but the high schools have hopes and dreams. For some boys this will be the pinnacle of the athletic part of their life, for others it will simply be a chance to be part of something.
But the sad thing is that these days it seems there is a story about another kid dying either during practice or right after. And I don’t think this is a case where we can say it just seems like it is happening more because it’s getting reported.
I played one undistinguished year of high school football back in 1973. I was slotted behind a kid who was so good he earned a full scholarship to Furman University. I started one game when another lineman was hurt and played on the kickoff return team. Trust me — the cute girls did not stop what they were doing to check out my downfield blocking.
Back in ‘73 the prevailing attitude was that water made us weak and part of getting “football tough” was to gut it out in the heat. We got one paper cup of sports drink during practice and if we were allowed to take our helmets off it was a great day.
Yet back then you didn’t hear about boys dying. We never even had a kid suffer a heat-related malady. I don’t know how we did it.
Today everything has changed. Kids still work hard, but there are plenty of water breaks and helmets are only worn when in drills and scrimmages. Some teams even have those massive fans to cool the players. Yet the heat keep taking its toll.
I do not think we were tougher in my era or that today’s players have gotten soft. It is true that most of the kids who grew up in Sandy Springs in the 60’s and early 70’s lived in homes without air conditioning, so we might have been more used to the heat. And we did not have video games, the Internet and our TV only had three channels — maybe we played outside more.
But today’s kids are better fed, better trained and have access to better medical care. Our pre-football physical back was getting our blood pressure checked and having the doctor listen to our hearts. It took two minutes - maybe. That was it.
When the games kick off this fall we should be watching young boys living one dream and perhaps chasing another. We shouldn’t be holding and breath and crossing our fingers.
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