14 Days Til ?

I will digress from my normal political discussion tonight and go to division II football. I saw what was probably the worse performance of a football team Saturday evening that it has ever been my displeasure to endure. From the moment they left the tunnel, before the opening kick-off, they were lethargic and without fight. It only became worse after that.

I don't fault the players for this. This is a lack of coaching and motivation. The team that was on the field was disorganized and if there was a game plan, it was gone after the first snap. After three offensive plays and a short punt (probably 11 yards) the opponents scored on one snap. The floodgates opened and what ensued was a massacre.

My brother and nephew were in attendance and left after three quarters. He and I both played sports at various levels all our lives and he looked at me and said he had never seen such a poor job of preparation in his life. I had to agree. My son then apologized to him and the rest of the family for putting us through this. He asked why we stayed and we advised that we loved him and his desire to play than we hated watching such a thrashing.

I know this is the first year that the coaches have been in this position but I didn't think it was the first time they had ever been to a football game. They may be wonderful people off the field but from all indications that I have seen, they are not what I expect from a university that has a long heritage of athletic excellence and a really good reputation. I hope they are able to improve on their performance in the coming years but I have my doubts. They appear to be inflexible and unwilling to try and improve. Otherwise, why when they are hopelessly out of ball games, why don't they work on building depth? I imagine there will be a mass exodus from this program after the season and they will be playing players that they recruited next year. I will only warn the parents of these recruits to ask the parents of this years team and the players themselves if this is an environment that they have enjoyed.

I will have a discussion with the coaches after the season. I won't do so at this time because I think they are vindictive and narrow-minded and I would rather they not take it out on my son. He has kept a good attitude and deserves better. If it takes something like this to build character, the Chowan University football players should have it in abundance.