Crunch Time

Standing on the sidelines during football practice tonight, I saw a coach walking by with a kid holding a cloth up to his nose. It was slowly turning red as blood seeped into the fabric.

Being the squeamish type, I turned away, but not before coming to the realization that injuries are a very real part of football. And the probability of said injuries is likely pretty high. This was confirmed later when I saw a kid with his right cleat off, walking gingerly off the field with the aid of another player.

Since my son is the runt of the litter on his team, I am guessing we need to be prepared that he is going to get run over. That it is going to hurt. And that it could cause an injury.

So far, especially since he was warned "there is no whining in football," he has not complained about aches and pains. Merely pointed out the other day, "I have 19 bruises."

Tonight on the way to practice, I asked him what his favorite part about football is so far. He said he wasn't sure. I said, "OK, then is there anything you don't like?" Nope, he said, "I like it all."

That's wonderful! I hope he has the same response after his scrimmage Saturday. I guess if I videotape his games, I can still squeeze my eyes shut when I hear that "crunch!"