Why Do We Do What We Do?

 Our Athletic Director, Sharon Spalding, asked us to blog about our experience with being an athlete.  I grew up in the "Garden State", New Jersey.  I played baseball and basketball as a young lad, but didn't really get into sports until I started playing football.  The summer before 6th grade, my family traveled to Florida to visit my uncle and his family.  When we returned to New Jersey, all my friends disappeared at 4 PM every day to attend Pop Warner Football practice.  While I was away for 2 weeks everybody in my neighborhood decided to play football.  I decided I wanted to play too.  I went to practice and was told they didn't have any more uniforms, but the coaches were sure that some of the kids now on the team would quit and I would get a uniform.  I went to practice in jeans and a t-shirt and ran all the drills, I just could not hit.  As the practices became more and more contact oriented, the coaches prediction proved true, many kids started to drop out.  Finally I got my uniform and all my friends, who motivated me to go out for the team, quit.  I loved the hitting.  I was a little butterball of a kid, but I found my place.

By my 8th grade year I was too fat to play.  There was a weight limit of 115 lbs.  I was over 125.  I put myself on a diet and did a summer work-out.  By the time weigh-ins came around I was down to 111 lbs.  I was captain of the team that year and we had a great season.  I was looking forward to high school football.
 My freshman season didn't last long.  I broke my arm one week before the first game.  I was heart broken.  I hung around and continued to go to every practice.  High school football was king in South River.  We had several stars from our school.  Joe Theisman and Drew Pearson, both super bowl winners were South River Rams.  I played center and our greatest moment came my senior year.  One of our big rivals came to town.  The East Brunswick Bears were 6 - 0, we were a humble 3 - 3.  All 3 loses were close, but close doesn't count.  The Bear's fans came to our stadium and painted the score board and bleachers in there school colors, green and white.  When we got to the school Saturday morning for the game our coaches took us to the field to show us the paint job.  They also read us the news paper predictions.  The closest any of the sports writers had the score was Bears 35 - Rams 7.

We were not about to roll over.  We knew we could beat this team.  They had two players who were being scouted by Division I programs, we had 0 being scouted.  Their linemen averaged close to 210 lbs.  Our line averaged 190.  We won 35 - 24.  It was the greatest game I ever played in.  At the end of the game I did not want to stop playing.  That was 40 years ago.  When I go home, people still talk about that game.  I have had people say that was the greatest football game they ever saw.

I played one more year of football in college, but quickly learned that I was too slow, too small, and lacked the talent to play at Division III level.  I entered the Marine Corps after college and stayed for 20 years.  I've run 4 marathons and numerous half marathons.  My last tour of duty was as an instructor with the NROTC at The Ohio State University.  I was working on a Master's Degree in Physical Education and Recreation and took an athletic training class.  I thought being an Athletic Trainer would be a great thing to do after I retired from the Corps.  That is how I came to my new profession.

Were are you going?  What is your plan?  Have you made the decision to be better and upset some of the schools in our conference?  East Brunswick High School should have beaten us; they were bigger, stronger and confident.  Why did we win?  I'm not sure I have the answer, but I know it all starts with your state of mind and physical preparedness.  March on squirrels.