First day of fall prep practice

[OrangeGrad]

We're doing a little photo package, since practice gets under way today. What are some other creative ideas to avoid the stories with coach saying he's excited to get started, blah, blah, blah?

 

[DanOregon]

What do the players do in between the first and second practice. Back in my day you had enough time to go home, eat and just start getting sore before going back and putting on the same sweat-soaked gear you happily shed just a couple of hours before.

 

[TyWebb]

I like Dan's idea.

Our paper did a roundup of all the schools in the area, hitting when, how long, what they did, etc. It ended up pretty boring.

I saw one paper go around and talk to the kids about how hot it was. They got some really good quotes that way.

 

[ZummoSports]

If you're a freshman, you quickly eat lunch and avoid the locker room at all costs to avoid a wedgie from the big bad senior.

 

[Angola!]

The Lubbock paper had a story about two-a-days starting in Texas today and they used a photo from Idaho. I found that amusing, partly because I moved to Texas from Idaho.

We started our drive all over Texas today to talk to jillions of kids and coaches. From what I could tell, no one left in between workouts. The coaches would just give them time to hang out in the lockerroom and drink some water and then it was back out on the field.

 

[RedSmithClone]

Ahhhh nothing like double sessions in the 90 degree weather. Especially for the fat linemen like me. Good times!

 

[Willie-Butch]

Dan's idea is very interesting. Wish I would have thought of it. Maybe next year.

 

[Football_Bat]

This year, everyone gets an extra 2 weeks of 2-a-days in Texas because the state legislature moved the start of school to Aug. 27. Before that, some schools like Keller and Allen would have started on Monday.

 

[finishthehat]

My kid's enduring this in the Texas heat right now, and while they give them time to go across the street and get a Subway sandwich or something, his reply when I asked him was "Dad, who wants to eat a big sandwich and then go back out for another practice?"

 

[aztarheel]

Two-a-days? Not in my neck of the woods in NC ... Teams practice for a couple of hours either in the mornings or evening, and that's it ... One team did a midnight madness session at exactly the first minute it was OK to put on the pads and start hitting. More than 200 people showed up to watch...

 

[John]

Two-a-days? Not in my neck of the woods in NC ... Teams practice for a couple of hours either in the mornings or evening, and that's it ... One team did a midnight madness session at exactly the first minute it was OK to put on the pads and start hitting. More than 200 people showed up to watch...

More teams should do that, if for no other reason that the temperature is almost tolerable then.

 

[RedCanuck]

Ahhhh nothing like double sessions in the 90 degree weather. Especially for the fat linemen like me. Good times!

Agreed, but now, 10 years removed from playing, I'd give anything to be in the shape I was in when I did those double sessions. The momentary hell really did wonders for my health in those days.

 

[Football_Bat]

Two-a-days? Not in my neck of the woods in NC ... Teams practice for a couple of hours either in the mornings or evening, and that's it ... One team did a midnight madness session at exactly the first minute it was OK to put on the pads and start hitting. More than 200 people showed up to watch...

More teams should do that, if for no other reason that the temperature is almost tolerable then.

Darn right. One school I used to cover started doing this in the early 1990s and made it a tradition. It was exciting for everyone. I haven't heard of anyone else doing it.

 

[Jim_Mora]

I'm also in NC, and practices for all fall sports in the county I'm in have been put on hold for a couple days due to the excessive heat. The weird thing is, the first regular season football game is next friday. I doubt it's going to be much cooler.

 

[chazp]

The heat is a good idea. Talk with trainers about how they keep the players safe. Also, several coaches now have their starting 22 set coming out of spring practice, so why not a story on what the coaches hope to accomplish in the fall before the regular season opens. We used this one last year and got much better things to write about than the, "We're excited..." crap.

 

[expendable]

I don't understand why more schools don't practice at night. For the most part, games are played at night, why not practice then?

 

[chazp]

I don't understand why more schools don't practice at night. For the most part, games are played at night, why not practice then?

Some of them do. Three of my area teams scrimmage on Friday nights under the lights between now and when the regular season starts to get into the habit of playing on Friday nights.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

One way to avoid the coach speak on it's just great to get started again is to pick and choose which schools you go out and visit.

Make it about a good story at a particular school. Today, Free Press had a story about Tyrone Wheatley coming back to coach at his alma mater and how he was more interested in being the track coach and got talked into doing football.


Hit 4-5 schools, write 10-12 inch stories, have a nice photo package and it's a nice overall package.

 

[Angola!]

Two-a-days? Not in my neck of the woods in NC ... Teams practice for a couple of hours either in the mornings or evening, and that's it ... One team did a midnight madness session at exactly the first minute it was OK to put on the pads and start hitting. More than 200 people showed up to watch...

More teams should do that, if for no other reason that the temperature is almost tolerable then.

Darn right. One school I used to cover started doing this in the early 1990s and made it a tradition. It was exciting for everyone. I haven't heard of anyone else doing it.

A couple of teams in West Texas still do it.
I hate two-a-days. I drove 320 miles today and only visited four schools for interviews, practice shots and mugs, plus I have three more days of driving left. At least I will get a hefty expense check.

 

[pressboxramblings07]

Gotta left those West Texas coverage areas/districts.

Sorry, but I don't envy you.