FOOTBALL FUN!

It's football season! I live in TEXAS and I'm a coach's wife. I do a lot of cheering! Seriously!

How can I possibly explain this? Most of you who visit my blog will understand because you are from Texas or grew up here and you....and well, you know what I'm talking about! There's nothing quite like Texas high school football. It's FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, where it is common to find multi-million dollar stadiums with jumbo Teletron scoreboards and 10,000 plus screaming fans ( this happens to be Beth...with blue false eyelashes and Carter w/a rubber 'eagle'...tar'd & feathered),
on Friday nights in every city dotted throughout the state. It's BIG! It's CRAZY! It's TEXAS Football!!! So what's it like to love a football coach? It is breath taking, hair raising and foot stomping!
It's the most thrilling, frightening roller coaster ride you can imagine. ..and lonely...oh, I can't forget the lonely. Five months out of the year, a Texas high school football coach works an average of 110 hours a week and that's not including the extra hours spent traveling to out of town games! This year our team will drive: a 2 hour drive to San Angelo, 2 hours to Big Spring, 2 1/2 hours to Odessa, 2:45 min.'s to Lubbock, 3 1/2 hour's to Garland and 4 hours to Planview ...and that's just one way! After each nail biting competition we have to turn around and drive back home. CRAZY! Sometimes they don't get home until 2:00 in the morning and even though they are absolutely EXHAUSTED they can't sleep because their on a adrenalin high and already plotting and planning their next opponent or they lay in torment, 'fitfully' replaying every play that led to their defeat. Which feels similar to lying in bed next to someone who is wrestling a large alligator! Neither provides much opportunity for rest but winning is 100 times better than losing. Losing, is to a coach...death. It's the worst.

Anyway, our pre-season games began 2 weeks ago and we're off to a great start. Our first game was against Ft. Worth O. D Wyatt. the final score was Abilene Cooper -33, O. D. Wyatt- 0.

Last Friday we won again, Abilene Cooper Cougars - 42, Saginaw Boswell Pioneers - 21. It was a fabulous game! Great team work! Things look promising!!!

This week we play our cross town rivals, Abilene High Eagles. Our schools have been playing for the past 47 years.

The over-all record is : Abilene Cooper 30 wins

Abilene High 16 wins

& 1 tie

The Eagles have won the last 4 years but the Cougars are ready to change that! AHS is ranked 5th in 5A. CHS Is ranked 3rd in 4A. It is sure to be a match! Stay tuned for the results which I'll post early Saturday morning.

GO COOPER COUGARS!!! GO COOPER COUGARS!!!

Anyway, I've said all of the above to say football is serious business in Texas, and my coach and his staff of 15 coaches, take seriously their roles and the responsibility that has been given to them to teach young men all about life

through the game of football. Frequently, like Trey (above) players grow up and become coaches! I am so proud of all of them. They love these kids and are making a big difference in their lives. From top to bottom they are a team of Champions!

To read more detailed hype go to http://www.abilenereporternews.com/ Oh, did I mention that it is not uncommon to find a huge crowd at this game? .....15,000 or so!

P.S. Coaches wives have lots of time to make crafts! (We are clever lot! Very resourceful..making a lot out of a little, wearing many hats, juggling husbands, children, finances, schedules, repairs, homework, responsibilities and relationships,all on a 'shoe-string' budget)

These are tall skinny candles in jars, decoupaged with colored copies I designed with various paper elements. Just hollar if you need more info!