Mid week report

Another game and another loss. Not something I can really take from a pride stand point but I suppose that is why we have to get better as a team.

As for me, I have recovered nicely in spite of playing almost 34 minutes of the game. I know that it is supposed to be a rough game but I didnt quite expect it to be as rough as it was and had a nice head ache to show for it for two days.

Now I am looking at photos and film and trying to figure out what went wrong with our playing this past week. 2.5 weeks to the next game so it is back to hard training time for me.

Definition of a bad day -- 21-0 Loss

Seems like no matter how well our line plays, we are getting beat. And since there is no I in team, I am as much to blame as anyone else out there. But then again, I did my job today the best I could.

Pain comes by the dozen and I dished out a ton of pain. Have the bruises to prove it but of course, it I have bruises, it means someone hit me. Funny how I got drove out of the Nose position by four guys on one play for a 2 yard gain for our opponents, only to come back and stuff those same four guys the very next guy. I got up and yelled, 'Just Bring It!'. That is the first time in 10 years, I have done that. Not that I havent played hard before, but this time, it felt good.

As for Yamanashi Daigaku, hats off to them for bringing the best they had. Unfortunately for our team, it was just too much particularly on passes. Oh well, maybe this bye week will give us time to recover and come back and finally win a game.

Day Before Report

Another game tomorrow according to the schedule. The bag is packed and the uniforms ready. The question is will there be a game. We are having a Typhoon right now which is supposed to blow through about midnight and then be well gone by 8am. But one can only wonder what that will do to the football field.

Of course, being as Kofu is protected by the mountains, there is a good possibility that they wont hardly get any rain over there in spite of the weather report calling for occasional rain.

As for me, I guess I am ready. A bit more of a fire burning in the belly now, having lost the first game and realizing that I have to play even better than I did in the first game.

Mid week report

They say that film never lies. And this week, it didnt lie any more than it did last week or any other week. One can only hope that the way we played on Sunday doesnt reflect the rest of the season.

On Sunday after the game, I gave myself a score of about 6.5 out of 10 based on the fact that I hadnt played in a long time. But after watching the film, I would say that I would be luck if that were a 5.5 out of 10. Of course, I cant see everything in the film but the one thing that struck me as off is the fact that I seem to be awful high in a good number of plays.

Next week is another game and this one wont be as easy from the perspective of actual playing time. It looks like I will be playing both Defense and Offense. But thats ok. The more fun, the better.

Mistakes lead to 14-0 Loss to Lazarus

Two or three break downs in the offense and defence led to no touchdowns scored and a loss to Lazarus. While we were able to move the ball 60 yards down field in one drive in the first quarter, the drive faded at the Lazurus 30 when two sweeps were cut short and resulted in no gain.

The game was not a total loss but unfortunately the score did not favor us, this in spite of dominating for most of the game in a rough ground em, pound em style game.

Yours truly was bowling over guys left and right, but even that did not lead to the result that was desired. Now I am facing the usual post game aches and pains and am heading for the bath.

Maybe next week will go better.

Day before report

No mid week report this week but here is the day before scoop. I am having to adjust my sleeping patterns from night owl to farm boy hours. Woke up at 4:15 am after going to bed at 8pm. I couldnt believe it. But here I am with all the creaks and groans of an old man playing football.

Finally got my new helmet, new padded girdle, and mouth piece ready. Hopefully the helmet wont give me too hard of time being new and all. But it is all stickered up (Have to re-do this bit next week) and the only thing left to do is to put air in it so I dont batter my brains.

The ribs are hurting a bit after the massage yesterday. Not so sure I should have had it but that is the price of age. Now the waiting has begun. A long drive in the morning and then game time!

Practice # 9

Today was a nice cool autumn day here, but that is where the coolness stops. Parking was non-existent so I wound up having to walk. Of course that probably did me some good but now the ham strings are a bit tight. By the 1 hour mark of practice, I was sweating. After demonstrating de-cleaters and down blocking techniques, I was once again snapping balls. After what amounts to approximately 100 snaps, I was sweating pretty profusely.

I found out today that the coach will want me only to do a part time bit on Defense, not the full time one I am used to. I guess he figures we have the personnel, and I should focus on offense. But of course, that makes my job easier which is fine too.

We worked on down and drive blocking quite a bit and I think we have it. Our guards and I work together pretty well and if we can block like we do in practice, we should be unstoppable in the games.

One last hard work week (till Friday) and then it will be game time on Sunday! I am sure this one will go, even though we have a 6am departure time for traveling to play at 10:30am. That means 5 am wake up and 5:40 leaving. Ouch. I better fix my sleep patterns before Wednesday or Thursday.

Practice -- again finally

Today's practice went pretty well. While I was expecting to not be up to par, I found myself actually moving at a pretty decent clip on most plays. The weather changing to fall definitely helps and I was able to get through all of the drills without rolling over and dying of heat exhaustion for a change.

While my ribs still hurt a bit, I am doing better and after a good practice and then another workout pulling the shrine in the city festival today, I am ready for a good massage. (That will hopefully happen tomorrow after I get back from the football gear shop).

Two weeks to go to our next game. This one should go on as scheduled. But we will see. That's it from me for now.

Rolling back into training mode

Well, the Dr. said the ribs aren't broken. Just a bad muscle tear. So it is back to training mode. I guess I will wait a few more days until I quit hurting before I start lifting the heavy stuff but for now it is back to pushups and situps to the point of pain.

I am just glad I can get focused again. Of course, it does help to have two more weeks until the next game so that I can get healthy again.