Heat Control

I saw 94 on the thermometer yesterday.  I'm afraid that is an indicator of things to come in the next few weeks.

And we've got teams practicing all over the area.  Football is a bit more difficult with regards to dealing with the heat because of the pads and the helmet that you have to wear.

By the way, those face shields that too many football players like to add to their helmet don't help at all with dealing with the heat.  They actually trap heat inside your helmet.  In my book, they're pretty worthless.

Kids wear them to look like the pro's.  They don't realize that the a player in the pro's plays fewer snaps than most high school players.  They NEVER go both ways (something that a lot of high school players do).   Starters never play special teams.

All that means that they get more rest time.  More time to cool off.  And in hot weather, pro teams have all kinds of cooling devices for their players, including individual air conditioner-type devices that they can hook up to on the bench.

It seems like most of the players that I see wearing these shields are receivers, which makes no sense.  The one legitimate reason for wearing the shield is to protect your eyes from gouging but the only place in football that happens is in the lineman scrum in the middle of the field.

Dealing with the heat is hard enough.   The two keys to successfully dealing with the heat are hydration and being smart.

Back in the day (you've heard that one before), we got salt pills before practice and one small cup of water during.    We had fewer problems dealing with the heat but we didn't have air conditioners everywhere.  My house wasn't air-conditioned and only my parents' vehicle had a rarely used AC (it burned up too much gas).

We worked outside all summer so were much more acclimatized to the heat. 

All of our high schools have student athletic trainers whose #1 job is to make sure that our players are hydrated.  There are no limits on how much they can drink.  Our coaches adjust practice to accommodate warmer weather and we are constantly monitoring the heat index.  TSSAA has clear rules on what is an acceptable heat index.

One piece of advice that I've given for years that has been almost universally ignored is that if you have an athlete who is going to be fighting the heat, turn off the air conditioner.  Not many families are willing to make that sacrifice.

This year, I have already dealt with athletes with terrible sunburn that I'm pretty sure wasn't a part of their heat acclimatization process, athletes that have avoided the heat of the day for their workouts all summer, and players that limit their fluid intake because they didn't want to become "waterlogged."

Reminds me of that old movie Dumb and Dumber.

Anyway...yes, it's hot but if you hydrate properly (both water and sports drinks) and are smart, you should be fine. 

If not, well then we've got that watering trough full of ice water (full immersion) waiting for you which is, by the way, the absolute best way to deal with it when the heat gets to be too much.

Your Average Joe

Write this one down:  The backbone of success is a solid work ethic.  In life, business, sports--you name it.

What is a "solid work ethic?"  A willingness to do the work.  All the time.  Someone with a solid work ethic is willing to keep going even when it is hard or it hurts and especially when they are tired. 

You sometimes can succeed on talent alone.  Some people are that good. 

I rehabbed a baseball pitcher several years ago that had that kind of talent.  He was recovering from surgery to his shoulder and had made it as high as AAA baseball. 

He had a golden arm and it had carried him to the brink of making The Big Show, Major League Baseball. 

He had never really had to work hard and most definitely did not know his way around the weight room. 

He was all arm.  The rest of his body was a mess.  Maybe the worst core strength I have seen on a professional athlete and that was probably a huge factor in his shoulder injury.

When that arm failed him, his entire professional career was in jeopardy.  It may be unnecessary to say but during the summer that he spent with me, he definitely learned his way around the weight room. 

Randall Cobb had that kind of talent.  I know of several other local football stars that might have had as much talent as Randall (maybe) but who didn't have his work ethic. 

After he finished a stellar career at Alcoa High School, Randall turned that work ethic and talent into a successful career at the University of Kentucky.  Then, when given the opportunity, when some might have doubted if he could make it or not, he turned it into a successful career with the NFL's Green Bay Packers.

Talent? For sure.  Solid work ethic?  Without a doubt. 

Brandon Waters remains one of the hardest working athletes that I have known.  His work ethic when he was a high school football player remains legendary.  He had talent but nobody had his work ethic. 

It carried him from state championships at Maryville High School to a solid career at Tennessee Tech.  I can think of no one better to train young athletes than Brandon and that's just what he's doing as an Assistant Football Coach and Head Strength Coach at his alma mater.

At 6'6" and 255 chiseled pounds, Dylan Jackson is the whole package. I would offer him a football scholarship just looking at him.  Throw in speed, quickness, and athleticism and you can see why schools like UT and Alabama want him on their football team. 

At this point, it would be easy for him just to coast through this year.    But that's not for Dylan.  He's working hard every day.  Coach Quarles told me that just last week, he arrived at school early only to find Dylan already there, already hard at work. I predict his work ethic will carry him far.

But you don't have to be that big or that fast to be successful.  There are a lot more kids out there that are average size and merely decent athletes that will have really great sports careers.  I would suggest that for them, it is also all about the work ethic. 

And like I said, that work ethic can serve you well not just in sports but in life and relationships and business.  Trust me...a solid work ethic can carry the average Joe a long way.  

Boys Growing Up

This column has been years in the making.  Maybe decades.  It might not have a lot to do with sports but for me it is a natural extension of a discussion about what we do growing up and how it influences the athletes and adults we eventually become. 

Bill, Ronnie, Teddy, Jerry, Tony,  Gary, Ricky.  We grew up together, at least until college age, when most of us drifted apart--some way apart.   It seems like we were always together doing something.  We either walked or took bikes everywhere we went.

Every summer, from an age that would seem insane in today's world, we would get up in the morning and meet somewhere on our bikes. Lunch would be at whoever's house we found ourselves at when we got hungry.  Nobody carried money so buying lunch was never even an option.

Usually it was PB&J and lemonade.   Granny Miller would offer us souse meat sandwiches but that may have been to get rid of us.  Since I lived out in the country, my house was rarely on the list.  The only rule was be home by supper.

Although it was a game way out of our socio-economic status, we played tennis all the time.  We had a deal with the owners of the only two tennis courts in town (there were no public courts) that we would keep the courts clean and in return got to play whenever we wanted to unless the owners wanted the courts. 

We played the only organized sport available to us (football), and spent weekends and summers playing everything you can imagine, usually on our own.

We knew where you could find a flat yard to play (the Andersons, the Harrisons).  We knew where there was a decent basketball goal (the Smiths, the Junior High).  We would also sometimes sneak into the old high school to play basketball.  We would swim in the Tennessee River or one of the local creeks although without permission (definitely without our parents' knowledge) because there was no public pool.

Gary had a football, Bill a basketball, but all of us had a baseball glove and a baseball.  I had a bat (only wood back then).  I remember crying when an older boy broke it. There was no Little League but there was a program called Summer Recreation and pick-up baseball games were part of the summer mornings there.

We made do with whatever we had.  Street football on Ferry Street.  Red Rover in anybody's yard.  Fishing with a cane pole and worms  we dug up in the garden. 

We used to have contests at anything and everything.    Who could hit the stop sign throwing a rock the most times out of 10? (Usually Gary.)  Who won the three-legged running race? (Usually Ronnie and Tony.)

Things didn't work out great for all of us.  Gary, who would likely be a famous musician today, was injured in a motorcycle wreck and never recovered.

Bill discovered some bad habits in high school and stayed in trouble most of his adult life, finally dying a couple of years ago in circumstances that might still be unclear.   Jerry, the Italian kid of the group, died in his 30's of a heart attack.

All the others are still alive and have lived abundant, responsible lives.  Different in many ways yet forever tied together by how and where we grew up. 

All of us were what we would call "athletic" today.  Once apart, our paths diverged, with there being serious golfers and bikers and tennis players and water skiers and hikers and snow skiers among us.  I believe that has everything to do with the diversity that we followed each and every summer. 

Quoting Dickens:  "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  But isn't that what growing up is all about anyway?