freaks and geeks on the line

Another memory from going to school: choosing teams and playing football. And the thing is, it makes perfect social sense doing it this way - I mean, the better athletes and/or the more popular kids get to play the skill positions like quarterback and wide receiver, and the leftover kids get stuck playing on the line. As kids start getting involved in organized football this isn't so much the case, as physicality and skill sets are more closely matched to positions, but casually at school, the playgrounds and playing fields are microcosms of, well, society.

Why am I of this opinion? I was stuck playing the line, of course. Short and small me. I didn't have the athletic skills that screamed doing anything else. I didn't have the social status that was able to talk my way to playing the glory positions. Rushing the quarterback wasn't as big a deal, because I could choose how hard I wanted to play (we're talking junior high P.E. class here) but blocking was no fun at all. One play stands out in particular. It was a big game and I was on one side of the offensive line in position to block, when I heard one of my teammates, Ben, exclaiming something like "I'm not blocking Darryl, he's too big!" while walking away from his position on the line, his hands thrown up in the air. And Ben was several inches taller than me. So like a good soldier I moved from my spot to Ben's vacated spot and braced myself to try to block Mt. Muscle, Darryl.

Then our quarterback yelled "Hike!" and I prepared to get run over - which I did. But somehow, Darryl also stumbled over me like I was a loose clump of dirt, and my team completed a long, game-winning touchdown pass. A good and bad memory at the same time.

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While I'm at it, I have another memory, this one from high school. What should have been my greatest athletic moment was one I managed to screw up anyway. After a little while of playing football, my class period was going to go about choosing teams for football again. But for some reason, I thought we were choosing sides for basketball, which I was especially terrible at. So anyway, the very first person chosen was... me! But my immediate reaction was one of disgust and I turned and said, "I hate basketball!" (playing, not watching, to be specific). And that team captain, who had said my name with a smile, winced at my reaction, since he probably thought he was doing something nice. So, even though he won't see this blog in a million years, I'd like to say "Thanks Brennan! You're a cool dude!"