Chapter 28: Two-A-Days

Monday August 25, 2014 – Freshman Year

The first day of football practice had finally arrived. Everything I had worked for and anticipated was about to begin. I felt I was as ready as I could be. I had put in the work and gotten the training to be better. I couldn't think of anything I could've done to be more ready physically or mentally for today.

I think the football gods were looking out for us also. Today was perfect two-a-day weather. It was going to be sunny, hot and humid. If it was anything else I would have been disappointed.

On Sunday, Coach Hope had called and asked if I would be responsible for the sophomores and freshman. I asked him to have Tim Foresee help. This way we would have someone from the offense and defense help keep them in line. He told me Brad and Tommy would be leading the upperclassmen. Coach Hope said the first few days were intended to weed the ones who wouldn't make the team and he always did things by class. I think he just wanted to settle in and not have conflict between Brad and me right off the bat.

I went downstairs and found Mom and Dad having coffee.

"I forgot to buy chicken, so you'll need to settle for some of the roast we had yesterday," Mom told me.

"Not a problem. Do you want me to go grocery shopping?" I asked.

"No, I'm going over to Greg's today and taking Angie shopping for a couple of things. I only have one showing today, but it's a good one. The old Henson farm just came on the market and it's what my couple is looking for. So hopefully, after I write the contract, I'll have time to go shopping for food."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to worry about not eating," Dad teased me.

I just ignored him and ate like a starved barbarian to tease him back. He and Mom were shaking their heads as I left.

When we got to practice, Coach Hope had us get into shorts and t-shirts. There had to be a hundred and twenty guys trying out. The majority were freshmen and sophomores. There were only thirty juniors and seniors. Last year's senior class dominated the playing time, so a lot of the bench players decided not to go out last year. For Lincoln High, this would be our weakest year for the next three - if you just went by class size.

Coach Hope came to the front of the group.

"Good morning. Today I find out what kind of shape you're in. We're going to start out with a mile run. For juniors and seniors you will need to be able to run the mile in seven minutes, freshman and sophomores will run it in less than nine minutes," Coach Hope informed us.

"Here is where we become a team. EVERYONE has to finish within the allotted time or you all run it again until everyone can makes it. Before we get started, I want to introduce the coaching staff for this year. Coach 'Moose' Douglas has agreed to be the defensive coordinator this year. Coach Diamond is the JV Coach and will also serve as the offensive coordinator. New to Lincoln High is Coach Stevens. He will be our Freshman Coach and is in charge of special teams.

"I want the freshmen and sophomores to go with Coach Diamond and Stevens to the Middle School track and the rest of you come with me."

We all jogged over to the Middle School. Coach Diamond wanted to line everyone up and start running. I jogged up to him.

"Coach, can we stretch out first?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head.

"David, I know better. Thanks," he told me. "Listen up! We are going to stretch first. Tim, get up here with David. You know the routine. Take them through it."

Tim and I led them through stretching. When we were done, I pulled them close to Tim and me.

"For many of you today is your first day as a Lincoln High football player. I know some of you are worried about running the mile. We are going to run it as a team. When we get on the track we are going to run six abreast. That should give us fifteen rows. I want you to focus on keeping in pace with your row. I'll set the pace just a little faster than we need to run. Now let's line up."

I did a quick calculation in my head I we need to run 2:15 per lap. I started them off at an easy jog, so they could get their breathing under control. I had Tim behind us in case we had someone try to drop out. I knew the first lap was going to be slow. After the first half lap I slowly stepped up the speed just a little. I still felt like I was crawling, but the goal was not to win the race, but to finish it with everyone making it.

"We are going to go just a little faster now!" I announced.

When we crossed the line for the first lap Coach Stevens called out the time, "2:35."

Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I just kept this pace because I knew we were picking up time now. Everyone seemed to be doing okay. Mike and Wolf were in the front row I motioned for them to join me.

"The next two laps may be a problem for some guys. I want you two to slide back and, if you see someone struggling, pull them out and bring them up here with me. If they are going to quit, they're going to have to do it in front of the whole team," I told them.

We completed the second lap. Coach Stevens called out, "4 minutes 28 seconds."

We were going a little too fast, but I was happy with our pace for now. We would need the extra time for the last lap. Three quarters of the way through the third lap Mike and Wolf brought me three freshman linemen who were breathing hard.

"Can you guys make it to the end of this lap?" I asked them.

They all nodded. We made it to the final lap and Coach Stevens called out, "6:20."

Our target time was 6:45, so we were doing fine. I needed to get the guys around one more time and if I pushed these three they would not make it. I needed to get their breathing back under control.

"Okay, bring it down to a jog!"

"Concentrate on slowing down your breathing. Just focus on putting one foot in front of another," I told my three charges.

When we got halfway around, I needed to get us back up to pace.

"Fourth Quarter! Let's push through this!" I yelled.

We crossed the finish line and Coach Stevens called out, "8:53. Good job!"

The plan had been we would need to run the mile three or four times before people started quitting. Coach Diamond and Stevens weren't sure what to do next. None of the coaches believed they would get everyone to run the mile in the allotted time. Since today was about conditioning, Tim suggested we do sixty minutes of hell. Since Tim had suggested it, he had to lead us through it.

I found it funny everyone survived the mile, but we lost 8 freshmen and 4 sophomores doing exercises. When we were done, Coach Diamond made sure we had plenty of water and salt pills. We came back looking like we had been worked to death. Coach Hope was all smiles when he saw us. The older guys looked like hell.

"How many did you lose to the run?" Coach Hope asked Coach Diamond.

"None, they ran the mile in 8:53. Since we had some time, Tim led us in sixty minutes of hell. We lost 8 freshmen and 4 sophomores," Coach Diamond reported.

"We've lost three so far. They're not done running yet. Send your guys to the shower and have them back here at three o'clock."

When we came back for the afternoon session I knew the confrontation was coming. Brad and five of his ass-hats cornered me in the training room before practice. I was a little relieved it came sooner rather than later.

"Hey Brad, how's it going?" I asked to try and defuse the situation.

Tami and I had talked about this very meeting. She had told me to let him have his way. She predicted he would fold under the pressure of having to lead the team. Bringing five teammates told me he was already slipping. If it had been me delivering a message, I wouldn't want any witnesses. He got into my personal space. I had to stop myself from reacting as Cassidy had trained me. From his breath he either had tuna or cat food for lunch. I wrinkled my nose.

"Listen, because I'm only going to say this once," Brad said trying to be menacing as he looked up at me. "If we see you making an effort to take my position, we'll hurt one of your friends."

I sighed. I was betting if I threw the first punch they would all say I was the aggressor. Our school had a zero tolerance policy about fighting. I would end up taking the brunt of the punishment in both the fight and then what the school doled out. This meant I had to take another approach. I tried to deflect.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were going out for quarterback? When did you decide to play fullback?" I asked.

He wasn't amused. He gave me a shove and just muttered I had been warned, and he and his buddies stomped out of the room. I had a grim expression on my face when Becky Grimes, one of the trainers, came out of her office.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I hope you didn't hear anything," I suggested.

She just shook her head and went back to her office. I was glad she was letting me deal with it. So far, it was not so bad. Next time I would bring him a breath mint.

The afternoon was more running. Coach Hope was following the script from baseball. We lost another six in the afternoon. I was wondering when we would start actually doing something football related. Coach Stevens pulled me out of a run so he could talk to me.

Coach Stevens had just graduated from State. He started out at State on a scholarship to play football. He was an offensive lineman who blew his knee out. He loved football, so he got his teaching certificate. He would be a math teacher this year.

"Coach Hope tells me you would be interested in playing some special teams this year," he said.

"Yes sir, I would like to do whatever is needed to make us a better team," I said.

He looked at me skeptically. Then he just shrugged. I wasn't sure what he was contemplating, but he seemed to come to a decision.

"I would like to try you at kickoff returns. I think you might be okay in the open field," Coach Stevens told me.

I wasn't sure if he was taking a shot at me or was serious. They finally called for offense and defense. I decided to go with the defense to keep Brad appeased for now. Plus, I wanted a shot at playing defense. Moose saw me and pulled me out.

"Son, what are you doing? Coach Hope has you penciled in on offense."

"I want a chance to go both ways, Moose. If you give me a shot, I think I can play just about anywhere you need me."

There suddenly was a big commotion over on the offensive side. It looked like a fight was going on. How the hell do you have a fight the first day in shorts and t-shirts? I sprinted over because it didn't look like the coaches were able to break it up. There were now several people fighting. When I got close, I saw it was my group and Brad's going toe-to-toe.

Tommy Cox was just getting ready to sucker punch Jim when I decided to join in. I ran through him like he wasn't there. My left shoulder told me I had hit him hard. He lifted off his feet and landed at Brad's feet. Brad saw my look and started playing peace maker. By now Moose and Coach Stevens were there to help Coach Diamond and Coach Hope get everything under control.

I quickly got my guys out of the middle of everything. Tommy seemed to gather his senses and made a run at me.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he charged me.

Coach Hope put his arm out and clotheslined him. He had done the same thing to me, and it hurt. Tommy decided he wasn't done and tried to come after me again, but Coach Hope grabbed him.

"You're dead, Dawson! I will kick your ass!" he yelled at me.

"Let him go, and let's see if he is man enough to do as he says!" I shot back.

Tommy suddenly did this Incredible Hulk move, and shook off Coach Hope, and charged me. I did a simple hip toss, but instead of sending him flying, I directed him to the turf. His feet went over his head and he slammed into the ground taking the fight, and his breath, out of him. Cassidy had been over zealous one day and had done it to me. I knew it really hurt. I saw Tommy going blue because he couldn't get his breath. I was getting worried until I heard a huge intake of air.

Coach Hope went insane. His face was almost purple as he screamed at us. Apparently, it all started when two of the ass-hat senior linemen had tried to hurt Jim. One went low and the other high. Mike said it looked like they were trying to blow his knee out. Thank goodness Jim had been working out with us and had dated Cassidy. He knew how to fall, and when he felt the pressure on his knee, he knew what to do and just went down. He had gotten up and shoved one of them, which set them off. I think Brad and his group was just looking for an excuse to do something.

I zoned out about half way through Coach Hope's motivational speech. Tami's warning came rushing to the forefront of my brain. She had said they would try something and it wouldn't be pretty. She told me to protect my friends. How was I going to do it? I decided we all needed to talk about this. I would get all the guys together tonight and figure something out.

The training staff finally got Coach Hope to stop yelling, so they could work on the injured. Jim and Jeff ended up having to get stitches. Ed had a huge mouse over one eye and Tim looked like he had a broken nose. Our guys were the ones who got the worst of it.

I had worried since spring if we had two groups it wasn't going to work. I think we just found out how right I was.

When I got home Mom and Dad were not there yet. I went down and started dinner. I was deep in thought when Dad came in from the country club. He had really settled in and was enjoying his new job. I knew he used to love working at the park district, but this was a good move for him.

"What are we having?" Dad asked.

"Since we have zucchini coming out of our ears, I'm making a tomato, eggplant, zucchini casserole (ratatouille), hamburgers and a salad."

The neighbors all had gardens and they were overflowing with fresh zucchini and tomatoes right now. We were catching the excess bounty. I think we had enough zucchini to last us the rest of the year. Over the years, we had become creative in using them. Last night Mom had made meatloaf with zucchini in it. Not my favorite, but I was hungry and knew better than to complain.

Dad got himself a glass of iced tea and sat at the kitchen table as I cooked. We talked about Greg and Angie. Angie liked the daycare the university had for Kyle. Kyle didn't seem to like his first day at all. They had used today as a trial run before classes started tomorrow. Greg had told Dad that Kyle was being very clingy when he went to pick him up.

Then Dad asked about my big day.

"It was pretty much how I thought it would be. Coach Hope is trying to run us to death to weed out the ones who can't handle it. Brad and five of his buddies cornered me in the training room. They warned me that if I didn't do things their way they would hurt some of the guys."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was good, I kept things under control. They did try to hurt Jim, just before the end of practice. I was proud of my guys jumping in to protect him. It turned into a full blown fight."

"I take it you were right in the middle of it. What happened?"

"Actually, for once, I was nowhere near the actual start of the fight. I was with the defensive team running drills. I ran over when I heard the commotion escalate. By then everyone was headed over. I saw Tommy Cox sneaking up behind Jim to sucker punch him, so I got involved. I knocked him off his feet. Brad saw me coming and started to get his guys under control.

"Tommy went nuts. He was focused on me. By this time, everyone else had stopped fighting. The first time he tried to charge me Coach Hope clotheslined him. He got up and made another lunge at me, but Coach Hope had him under control. I still don't know how he got away from Coach. I mean the guy is an ex-Marine and can handle himself. Tommy charged me and I put him down," I told Dad.

"This is going to cause all kinds of problems," Dad said. "You know your Mom isn't going to let you go back if it's not safe. I never thought we would have these kinds of problems here, especially with you playing football."

"Dad, Coach Hope was furious. Anybody fighting will get kicked off the team. He's going to watch us like a hawk. I think it'll be okay. If not, I'll talk to you guys."

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to talk to Tony. Too many good things have been happening to have it derailed by something like this."

I was sure Coach Hope was getting calls from several of the parents by now. Ever since the Kentucky camp, Brad had had a chip on his shoulder and I knew why. I think if Isaac hadn't said what a mistake it was to name Brad quarterback by default, we wouldn't be in this position now. Brad had been bonding with the guys and starting to make friends.

Sure enough, not ten minutes later, Dad handed the phone to me.

"No, I don't mind you calling Coach. The guys are all getting together at the Dairy Queen to talk about it. It will be interesting to see how they react," I said.

"Just make sure they don't decide to retaliate. It would make things ten times worse. You need to get this under control, or this season will be shot. It'll also kill the momentum we have going to get the sports complex built."

Luckily Mom was still showing houses when I left. I didn't need her getting mad and taking matters into her own hands. I would be sitting at home tomorrow if that happened.

We all met at the Dairy Queen after dinner. The discussion didn't start out well. They guys wanted payback. I knew we could just write this season off if we retaliated. So I told them what Tami told me.

"Tami warned me this was going to happen," I said getting everyone's attention. "She said Brad's group would try some things. She advised us to be patient. She explained Brad is under a lot of pressure. He has to step in and replace me. Not just replace me; he has to do his best to stop the whispers that he's not good enough."

"He's not as good as you and we all know it," Mike said. "If we had fair competition, I might beat him out as your backup."

The truth was, Mike was right. He probably could beat him out. Mike had been getting much better over the last few months.

"Guys, Coach Hope has as much as told me he's not going to give us a fair shot," I told them.

That almost caused a riot. Finally Wolf whistled loudly and got them to shut up.

"Let me tell you the second half of Tami's prediction. She said Brad would fold under the pressure. If he even stumbles, and God forbid we lose a game, the town will be pushing to replace him. Coach Hope wants to make his legacy here. Don't you think he will make some changes if we lose the first game ... or even if we struggle?" I asked.

Some of the guys were nodding.

"For now, we need to be safe. I made the mistake of being alone this morning. Brad and five of his buddies cornered me in the training room. Starting right now, you must always have a buddy with you. This is going to blow wide open if we aren't careful, and guys are going to get hurt."

The Dairy Queen is where all the teens go to be seen. When a large portion of the Lincoln High School's football team is there, it tends to attract girls. When girls show up then other boys show up. Thirty minutes after we arrived the place was packed. Dairy Queen should give us a free cone when we come in.

All the cheerleaders were avoiding me. No one was being rude. They just would say hi and move on. Gina and Alan showed up and she made a beeline to me.

"What's this I hear you are dating Lisa Felton," were the first words out of her mouth.

I raised my eyebrows and decided to just play along.

"Where did you hear that? It's supposed to be a secret," I teased her.

"O.M.G., I can't believe you would do it!" Gina exclaimed.

"O.M.G., how do these wild rumors get started?" I tried hard to imitate her voice.

Even Alan chuckled. He knew if I tagged Lisa Felton, my world would get turned upside down. Tami might not be talking to me, but that wouldn't stop her from sending a hit squad after my butt. Being in England wouldn't stop a text message from changing my life.

"Don't try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes. You're dating her," Gina told me.

"Okay, you got me. Just so you know, I'm also dating Kate Upton ... in my mind!"

Gina took a long look at me and then huffed. She turned to Alan.

"Is he or is he not dating Lisa?" she asked him.

"Not. He is way too relaxed. He was pulling your leg about them dating," he told her. "Now the Kate Upton thing I'm on the fence on. He might have a shot at that one."

I gave him a high five. Gina was not amused with either of us and went in to order.