We were moving Greg and Angie into their married-student housing today. Dad had ordered a trailer to help haul all their stuff. Between that and Angie’s minivan, we thought we’d be making one trip.
I had gotten a trailer hitch with my Jeep, so I was sent to pick up the trailer. What Greg and Angie didn’t know was I’d arranged for Kevin and several of his defensive teammates to help them move in. I figured a bunch of football players would make short work of it.
I was glad Greg and Angie had planned ahead. During the week, they’d been packing everything they needed to take with them and hauled it downstairs. When I woke up this morning, it dawned on me they were on the third floor.
It was amazing how quickly we loaded up and were off to State. Traffic was a nightmare since all the freshmen were moving in. The upperclassmen would trickle in from now until Tuesday. Classes started on Wednesday. This weekend they had a lot of activities to help people get acclimated to university life.
The good news was the married housing apartment parking lot was almost empty. Kevin and his five friends showed up shortly after we got there. I had given Dad the heads-up that I’d promised them pizza and beer. He stopped by the liquor store and bought a case of beer. I’d preordered pizzas to be delivered at noon. The guy who took my order told me it was a smart move; they were going to be swamped today.
By noon, all the boxes were in the proper rooms. Kyle was all set up. Mom and Angie had just gotten back from the grocery store and the pizzas arrived. By one o’clock, we were leaving. I admit I was a little choked-up to see them move out.
I made Angie promise me that if they needed anything to let me know. I knew Greg was too proud to ask. I didn’t want them worrying about anything that I could help with. Mom and Dad had organized everything, so there really wasn’t anything missing. I didn’t want to leave, but they looked so excited to be starting their new lives.
On the ride home, it hit me how much everything was changing. For the most part, my closest friends were all seniors and had scattered all over the country. I decided to look at this as an opportunity. This gave me a chance to start over with a clean slate. I would focus on football and grow up into the kind of man Tami thought (and I hoped) I could be. It was time for another change in my life. I knew it would be a challenge, but I thought I could handle it.
Chapter 21 – Tommy Cox a.k.a. Ass-Hat
Monday August 25
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 the perfect two-a-day weather. It was going to be sunny, hot and humid. If it had been anything else, I would have been disappointed.
On Sunday, Coach Hope had called and asked if I would be responsible for the sophomores and freshmen. 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 out 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. 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 get 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, with the majority being freshmen and sophomores. There were only thirty juniors and seniors. Last year’s senior class dominated the playing time, so many 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’ll need to be able to run the mile in seven minutes, freshmen and sophomores will run it in less than nine,” Coach Hope informed us.
“Here’s where we become a team. EVERYONE has to finish within the allotted time, or you all run it again until everyone makes it. Before we get started, I want to introduce the coaching staff for this year. Coach ‘Moose’ Donovan has agreed to be the defensive coordinator this year. Coach Diamond is the JV Coach and will serve as the varsity offensive coordinator. New to Lincoln High is Coach Stevens. He’ll be our freshman coach and is in charge of special teams on varsity.
“I want the freshmen and sophomores to go with Coaches 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’re 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’re going to run it as a team. When we get on the track, we’re 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: to run four laps in nine minutes we would have 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’re 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’re 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.