I was wide awake at 5:15am this morning. The throbbing pain coming from my neck area would no longer let me sleep. I tried laying flat on the mattress in a vain attempt to relieve the pressure. Then I tried propping my head slightly to see if I could stretch out my neck enough to get some relief, but even that did not help. I knew the only thing that would help me is to fill the bathtub full of hot water and soak for awhile before it was time for practice. I tried to be quiet so the running water would not wake my wife, but it was too late. Marty knew I was uncomfortable once again. I have no idea what is wrong in my neck and spine, but I also know that football is starting, so any chance of me going to the doctor will have to wait....Football comes first, and everybody I know understands this is how I think....but this does not make it right. (This is why my knee is still not repaired from two years ago.) Funny, Marty is a practice manager for several physicians and surgeons, so treatment/help would be easy for me to get; however, I know my time on the football field these days are coming to an end, so I don't want to get into anything major until I call it quits because of the rehab and down-time involved. I will attempt to treat it myself for awhile, but I am a little concerned....cervical and spine stuff sort of scares me...but not enough to address it until after the season. There is a fine line between being tough...and being an idiot. I think I may fall into the latter.
I was driving to practice this morning at 6:30am. The black skies were threatening thunderstorms already. The small rain droplets started forming on my windshield. The humidity hung in the air like a cheap blanket. I had no idea a tropical storm is looming, and rain would be threatening for next several days. I arrived at school and grabbed my coaching bag which contains my rain gear, whistle, and watch (A watch is very important in our system, Coach Jankowski runs a tight practice schedule) I also grabbed my DonJoy knee brace so graciously given to me my a friend and colleague Jeff Kagan. I slowly walked up to the back door of the locker room. I reached out and pulled the handle to enter. Any doubts of coaching this year were immediately erased.
I entered into the large room and heard the usual chatter by the players, and I was greeted warmly by several of them. The locker room actually did not smell too bad today, but all that is about to change tomorrow because of the wet clothes which will no doubt be in each locker tomorrow. I looked over to the coach's office and saw a few of the coaches getting dressed, and I took the usual ribbing as is our custom. I was told there was a team meeting at 7:15 am. Coach Jankowski was waiting for all of us there. lenny addressed the team as usual...went over everything we needed to know for today, then released us to make our way over to the practice field. I felt at home once again...coaching is what I was born to do.
The team went through our usual routine for a practice day. The defense started their dynamic warmup, the skill group started their perfect drills, and the linemen started their getting better period. Then the rains came down....completely flooding our practice field. The (lightning warning) horn started blasting. Thats it! We were off the field by 8:45 am. We got a few odds and ends completed and called it a day. Two a day practices are no longer allowed in high school football.
Thats all for today.
GZ
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