Californiaman Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 It's football and soccer in our family this fall. My youngest son is playing soccer while my eldest boy and I are elbow deep in football. He's playing his first year and I'm coaching. We've got a great group of U-14 boys. Today's our first game. Here's my youngest scoring the first goal of the season for his soccer team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 GOOOOOOALLLLL!!! Nice header. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Nice! Enjoy the moment Cali. I coached my 2 boys for years in both baseball and football. Some great bonding moments not to mention life lessons. Here we are at the final football game ever held at our old high school. (they merged with another school because of dropping enrollment) A reunion was held at half time and members of teams from every decade were announced. I played on that field in the 70s and my sons in the 2000s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 Cookieman, that's a beautiful story. My oldest boys team won today 20-12. We lost five of our starters due to injuries. That's hard when you only have 25 boys on the team. One poor kid will definitely be out the rest of the season. He broke his wrist. Our guys have reason to walk with a bit of swagger this weekend. We came back from a 6-0 deficit. The team showed a great deal of poise and character, and that is what it's all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 trying to get onto a hockey team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Well... so far the past week I've covered high school girls volleyball, boys football and girls barrel racing. Both teams won. Then this afternoon it was open barrel racing and one of our high school girls basketball stars was up there with the pros. She's a senior this year and already went to the national high school finals rodeo. It's a little different here when there's good enough weather for rodeo. Me... Never did rodeo; got a minor football letter and the only high school varsity letter was in fencing - and that was in New England. We did fence the Yale freshmen that year. I kinda adopt the local kids. They play hard whatever the sport is. Hmmmm. Come to think of it, I think the football senior fullback also went to the national finals high school competition as a bull rider... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 Milod, I've been there and done that. It was a good season in my life. Been an Sports Editor, beat writer, A&E too. We have some great rodeo kids here on the Central Coast of California. The annual Elk's Rodeo is always a big event here in Santa Maria. I've interviewed them before girls and boys alike. Some have qualified for the National Rodeo too. But it's a long way from California to where ever they hold it. Not too many of them want to put the wear and tare on their vehicles let alone their horses. I remember my days working the press box or sideline as a cub reporter for the Los Angeles Times back during the '90s. It was good, dependable money. I never really cared who played. I just wanted to see a good game. I think at one time in my life I was writing for five newspapers at a time. Enjoyed it a great deal. Haven't worked for a paper since '07. That was before they burned me out. Too many stories to write and nothing really of any interest to me. It was always "lack of infrastructure," "multi-family, high-density living in what is supposed to be a rural, horse country," and of course one of the biggest on going stories, "a lack of water on the Nipomo mesa and the possibility of salt water intrusion to the ground water," Yes sir, I love writing the story and crafting the right words to go along with it. Always wanted people to give it to me straight too. I wanted them to tell the story—makes my job easier. It's good men like you stick with it. If I was in a small town and needed to make it happen, I'd probably take up writing again. But for now... Well that's another story left unfinished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Cali... Yup about some good rodeo kids in Cali. In fact, the young actors who were in the John Wayne movie "The Cowboys" included about half good rodeo kids. I've gotten to know several of them although obviously they're not teenagers any more. In fact, we've had some Cali folks stop here en route to Gillette, Wyo., where they've held the high school national finals. Our kids here love it at Gillette 'cuz it's just a relatively short drive. Newspapering is not the fun it once was. Journalism in general isn't, I think, for a number of reasons. Mostly I think it's because local media outlets got to be too expensive for its own employee families to purchase from families that had lost interest in the biz. So it went increasingly corporate. Now add fears of the Internet and everybody doing "opinion" rather than facts, and... Still... I've got a few thousand readers whether I'm doing football or flood-fighting pieces - and I care about letting people know the facts. That's why sometimes it bothers me a bit to hear the anti-media "thing" often from people who want facts to line up with their opinions. That's awfully easy to do if one's dedication to the biz is to follow that sort of agenda rather than showing facts and explaining procedures that most people don't have a clue about. A&E still is usually great fun when one gets to meet exceptional artists. But the days when I went overseas for stories reflecting on regional economics or for sports and culture for newspapers and magazines is long past. The paycheck is about the same in adjusted dollars as when I began full time 45 years ago. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 2nd week of HS football done...... 1st week of college fb done........ local Rodeo season coming Oct-Dec.....we wait later in the year so the animals & riders ain't heat-stressed. ahhhh, those fine lil cowgirls whippin' em' through those barrels, bouncin' like lil'.......oops I meant, rodeo seasons almost here....... and don't forget the bull-riders & the "Buffalo Run" ! I can smell the fresh pork-skins cookin' already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Bender... Yup on rodeo season in the southern tier of states. I know Miss Rodeo America fairly well - she's from my state and went to college near here - and she would say you're right about it being miserable to rodeo in the summer there, so the fall makes it a lot more fun. BTW, with our weekend of barrel racing here, the lady running the thing who's no kid herself first said it's great for people to watch the beautiful women and fast horses... then grinned really big when I asked if it's maybe fast women and beautiful horses - and said, "Yeah, you can write it that way if you want to..." m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Some lovely stories here! Thanks for sharing. For us it's going to be helping our daughter gain confidence with her bike. She rode without stabilisers for the first time ever on Saturday (and loved it) but she is still a bit wobbly when starting off.......Elastoplasts at the ready!!! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Good luck Pippy... Those first bike rides are part of growing up - and knowing first hand that life can bite you. Perhaps it's also a lesson for parents that they've gotta let the kids enter the exhilaration regardless that it can be a cold world overall. Nice thing about "just" being an uncle is that I think it hurts less when the kid is hurt, but you're almost as proud as the parents when they do well. I know people in urban areas tend to think small schools such as where I live are not as enlightening to kids, but the 100-some kids per class can try any and every activity the school offers. Unfortunately rodeo isn't a state-sponsored sport, but the high school and Jr. High rodeo clubs take up the slack. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtherainbo Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Cali... Yup about some good rodeo kids in Cali. In fact, the young actors who were in the John Wayne movie "The Cowboys" included about half good rodeo kids. I've gotten to know several of them although obviously they're not teenagers any more. In fact, we've had some Cali folks stop here en route to Gillette, Wyo., where they've held the high school national finals. Our kids here love it at Gillette 'cuz it's just a relatively short drive. Newspapering is not the fun it once was. Journalism in general isn't, I think, for a number of reasons. Mostly I think it's because local media outlets got to be too expensive for its own employee families to purchase from families that had lost interest in the biz. So it went increasingly corporate. Now add fears of the Internet and everybody doing "opinion" rather than facts, and... Still... I've got a few thousand readers whether I'm doing football or flood-fighting pieces - and I care about letting people know the facts. That's why sometimes it bothers me a bit to hear the anti-media "thing" often from people who want facts to line up with their opinions. That's awfully easy to do if one's dedication to the biz is to follow that sort of agenda rather than showing facts and explaining procedures that most people don't have a clue about. A&E still is usually great fun when one gets to meet exceptional artists. But the days when I went overseas for stories reflecting on regional economics or for sports and culture for newspapers and magazines is long past. The paycheck is about the same in adjusted dollars as when I began full time 45 years ago. m Hello, Fellow Babies, Man, I have always admired people who participate in rodeo. I've always been nutty about horses, and I'm inclined to feel kindly towards cattle. This memory is from visiting a friend's ranch on a trip with my family when I was about Seven. Amazing to me now, I can vividly remember running -on foot - through a pasture with my friend, Gene, to play in the lemon tree orchard at the other side. In my memory, the cattle seemed only a little taller at the shoulder than me and my pal Gene; so I expect they may have been a herd of Dexters. Since the object was to get through to the orchard -a wonderfully shady and cool area to play- we did this as quickly as possible. In my memory now, I can't recall ever seeing any calves, but it's likely that if we had, we might have been seriously injured by the mother. I just cannot imagine that I would want to try that stunt now. My ridding has been mainly of the chopper/motorcycle variety. I know they're dangerous, but they wont actually chase you down to gore and trample you to death. I admit that a Brahma just plain scares the royal crap outta me. There is no way I could ride bulls. Goes back to childhood. We had a Brahma that resided in season in a hurricane fenced enclosure next to our standard-sized two-car garage. It's hump reached nearly 8 feet to the eves of the garage. Bulls are huge in every dimension- they average between ten and thirteen feet long and nearly four feet thick at the shoulders, chest, and hips. It's like standing next to a highway billboard. I can recall all the way back to childhood, that I could feel the heat radiating from it's body. I have nothing but admiration for those who can overcome those feelings and ride for sport - I couldn't do it except as some last ditch, life-or-death effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Over... Yeah, as the old saying goes, if you ride bulls it's not a question of "if" you get hurt, but when and how much. That even goes for the little kids who do calf riding and the almost-teens who ride steers. One local kid kept riding in the "junior" bull division at the national Little Britches rodeo after getting a shoulder dislocated. Tough kids; good kids. One thing about bulls, you keep outa their way or you can get hurt. Believe me, when I'm "shooting" them, this old guy knows where to be where there's a relative degree of safety. That includes keeping outa the way of judges who may need to climb the fence where I'm sitting. Even then, those critters can jump more than some folks may believe. But actually the most "normally" punishing rodeo events seem to be bareback bronc riding and calf roping for the boys and on occasion barrel racing and certainly goat tying for the girls. Calf roping and goat tying require getting off the horse while it's still moving and it can be very hard on knees and ankles. Barrel racing? You wanna have your leg get squished between a 50-gallon steel barrel and a horse? Bareback broncs may still kick you in the head or otherwise stomp on you or fall on you, but the real deal is the stress on a guy's neck as the horse snaps into bucks and turns, and to the riding arm for about the same reason. Back to the bulls... I've a young friend who just got his face smashed when the bulls head came up as his head came down at a rodeo in Utah a month and a half ago. It's gonna be a long recovery. It's not touchy just after the get-off. But in high school, rodeo is a great bit of teaching responsibility. Imagine city parents with lower to middle class incomes sending off four 16-year-olds for a long weekend and 600 miles of driving in a $40,000 pickup pulling a $50,000 trailer with maybe $250,000 or more in horseflesh. Ranch kids learn responsibility young, even if they might get away with more beer in camp than city kids after a soccer match. For what it's worth, too, the rodeo stars I've known have also been high school stars in other sports. You've gotta be an athlete in the purest sense to come home with a trophy buckle and a check. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Good luck Pippy... Those first bike rides are part of growing up - and knowing first hand that life can bite you.... m m, With that in mind the topic title seems very apt!.......... P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Pippy... Yeah... I think sports and "exercise" things like your kid's bicycle are great for several reasons. They learn lifelong lessons they don't even know they're learning and they're doing something good for their bodies and minds. In fact, I kinda feel sorry for kids who don't have the opportunity for sports, formal or informal, regardless of their talent and/or physical development. If nothing else it teaches spatial relationships that's a lifetime skill. The confidence your little one develops by successfully riding that bike, falling and getting back on again, can carry over into academics and everything else to come in life. Good on yah, Papa... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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