I’ve always been a fan of football, ever since I can remember - with both an Uncle and now a cousin coaching in the NFL, as well as a mother who is a rabid football fan you could say that I really had no choice. Back when Shannon and I were growing up we lived and died with the Browns - if the Browns lost on Sunday, I would go to school depressed for most of the week. If they won, I would go to school ecstatic. I can probably still recite the offensive and defensive starters from the great Browns teams from the late 80’s - those were my teams.

I always watched NCAA football when I was growing up as well - my Uncle Jack was at UNC when they made a string of bowl appearances in the early 1980’s, and my mother, as well as her brothers and sisters would watch these games religiously. But even if Jack was not on TV, Saturday was college football day in our house and the TV was tuned to some game, with Mom seated in front. She always had a team she wanted to win, so we would always check to see who we should be rooting for.

Now I’ve added High School and Youth football as well. Alex, Beth, and I have become staples down the street at James R. France Stadium for every Manchester Panther’s game. The Panthers - winners of their conference every year but one over the last 16 years - perennially field a good team, and each week it seems as if the entire community shows up to watch the team play. Alex and the rest of the kids in the Youth program get to wear their jerseys down to the field, and after every score get to jump up on the bleachers and wait for the cheerleaders to throw candy and plastic footballs into the stands.

This is Alex’s third season playing youth football, and his second year on the C-Team which is the youngest set of players allowed to wear full pads and have contact. We’ve reached the midway point in Alex’s football season, and despite the 1-3 record that the C-Team Panthers have put together so far, the season is a success to me. Alex is light-years ahead of where he was at this time last year - he is running better, paying attention better, and understanding the game better. That’s not to say that he is perfect - he still needs to get off the ball a bit quicker, tighten up his blocking, and be less hesitant - but I’m confident that will come either later this year or next season.

I know that my son isn’t a natural athlete, and I know that the chances of him suiting up for OSU or the Cleveland Browns are very low to nonexistent. But that’s not important to me - what is important is that Alex has fun, makes friends, and learns something. Not just about football - but about himself, about being part of a team, and about the importance hard work and dedication.

I know that Alex has learned something - a few weeks ago he decided that he wanted to be fast, so he constantly pushes himself to be near the front of the team when they run laps. Which is a big accomplishment considering he used to bring up the back of the pack as recently at the beginning of the season. I spent quite a bit of time reviewing the playbook with him at the start of the season, so he now understands more of the technical side of football - hole assignments, blocking strategies, and the like.

The best part about football, though, comes from watching these kids scrimmage each other and play in games - at this level it means something to the kids. They go out there and leave everything on the field. And - with only very minor exceptions - they are a team. They don’t just play for themselves, they are starting to realize what it’s like to play for each other.

To me, the sense of camaraderie on the team is very real - Alex can be a pain and a real handful at times, but the rest of the players accept him and work with him. At practice last night Matthew was putting Alex in position on the defensive line to adjust to a shift - and Kyle helped Alex get his splits right at TE on the offense in the next series. There is very little criticism of players by other players, and if there is any it is dealt with swiftly by the coaching staff.

Although the kids have only won one game in the nearly three years they have been playing together, the coaches have always stressed that win or lose on the scoreboard the kids are all winners, and that as long as they give 100% effort that they have nothing to be ashamed of. The coaches will take the time before, during, and after games and practices to talk to the kids individual and give praise or advice where needed. There are times players are disciplined - but when you have 30-some 7 and 8 year old boys playing a violent game such as football, that is to be expected.

Head Coach Troy Watral - who Alex likes very much and looks up to - always tells the kids “Don’t give up on me, and I won’t give up on you.” At times it can seem slightly corny, but it means something to the team. I’m proud of what Alex and the rest of the kids have accomplished, and grateful that the coaches and administrators of the program give so freely of their time and energy.

Tonight is homecoming for the High School, and as part of the celebrations the members of the youth program - football players and cheerleaders - get to march down our street from the high school to the stadium. Alex will be there with his team, and with his coaches, as will Beth and I for the parade and for the game against Fairless. Tomorrow Alex and his team try to get their second victory of the season at Stow. And win or lose I know that they will make us proud.

Over the holiday weekend just passed, Beth and I were able to take Alex up to see the USS Cod. This is something I’ve been wanting to do since I first read a book about the submarine service back in 1982 when I was ten years old, so I was pretty excited about the whole visit.
The first thing they tell you when you buy the tickets is “be careful”. The Cod is the only submarine currently on display that has not been modified from her wartime configuration. That means you walk through the same doors, up and down the same ladders, and through the same tight corridors that the sailors did when she went to war against Japan 60 years ago. Climbing down into the forward torpedo room you are struck by how tight everything seems - there is not all that much room to move around in, which can be a bit disconcerting because the forward torpedo room is one of the largest compartments on the sub.

The museum - which is what the Cod has become - is laid out very well. The tour starts at the forward torpedo room and continues through the aft torpedo room, and is self guided. Each compartment has a button which, when pressed, starts an audio recording which explains the function of the compartment you are in and notes some of the highlights. In a nice touch, the audio is presented in the words of one of the crewman from the Cod’s patrols. Pictures are located throughout the boat which show historic views of the compartments you are in.

This trip was a chance for me to actually get a first hand look at and actually touch history - after reading Pig Boats at ten, I followed up by reading everything I could find about submarines - books like “Das Boot”, “Torpedo Alley”, “Combat Patrol”, and “Run silent, run deep” found their way onto my bookshelf. I remember being incredibly excited when my father told me that a guy that he worked with was a former submariner - I recall bothering him for what seemed like hours when he went to a Cavaliers game with my father and I.

It was an odd feeling - in the control room, hands on the vent controls looking at the “chistmas tree” indicator lights. Standing at the diving planes and the helmsman’s station. Working the engine room annunciator back in the motor room. Everything was as I had always pictured it from all the reading, yet it was subtly different as well. More claustrophobic than I had envisioned, and that was - for the most part - only with Beth and Alex in the compartments with me. Even at dockside on Lake Erie, the boat had a noticeable sea motion - I can only imagine what it was like to be on the surface during a storm in the South Pacific.

Alex did get a bit bored near the end of the tour - part of it was the fact that he is only eight years old, and part of it was the fact that we were going to the airshow after we left. But the whining and complaining was fairly low-key, and he did tell me that he really liked the submarine later that night. Surprisingly, Beth told me she enjoyed the visit as well - which was a welcome surprise, as I always feel a little guilty dragging her along to things like this.

For a more in-depth discussion of the Cod (or of the submarine force), I would suggest starting with the Cod’s homepage at http://www.usscod.org/ - there are a number of links off their site which are worth pursuing. The books mentioned above are all very good as well, although my personal favorite - Pig Boats - has been out of print for a number of years. However, you may be able to locate it in your local library or through Amazon/Harvest. All pictures in this post are taken from the Cod’s homepage.