Not Just Another Pretty Face in the Stands

No matter how many times I tell the Coach and my kids that it was “cool to be in the band” at my high school, I still get the eye roll. Not a roll-back-in-your-head eye roll, but more of a raised eyebrow accompanied by a smirk eye roll. Ah, what do they know, anyway? One of my favorite marching band shows was our tribute to Neil Diamond (followed closely by the Pink Panther and Chicago). I haven’t stopped humming “Sweet Caroline” since I read this morning that Diamond finally that the inspiration for his song, “Sweet Caroline,” was President Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline. The no. 1 hit was penned years after seeing a photograph of her in her riding boots next to her pony. I didn’t know it was a closely guarded secret. Keeping it quiet all these years made the revelation all that more sweeter. Caroline’s youth was my youth. And this week as we head home to families (except those still in the play-offs), you can’t help reflecting on the past and simpler times.

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Two-a-day football practices have been harsh this week in Texas as temperatures soared into triple digits. Several school district administrators, including those in have chimed in and set parameters for coaches when the Texas sun reaches its peak. One high school player from storied Southlake Carroll was treated for dehyrdation according to the as have several others from the Houston area, but the one story that caught my eye was the University of Texas’ take on the situation. In this story, AP writer Jim Vertuno describes how Longhorn players swallow a thimble-sized mechanical device that monitors their body temperature. A hand-held device communicates with the pill telling trainers when players need to be pulled to the sidelines and cooled down. Most at risk for overheating: linemen - the players near and dear to my heart. At a cost of $30 a pill, only 25-30 professional and college teams are able to use the pills - others relying on coaches and trainers to keep a handle on heat exhaustion.

Life in , a small six-man school district in the northeast Texas Panhandle will slow down on Friday nights. The reported that not enough players came out for two-a-days to field a team. I look at last year’s photo in the and I see many of the same faces I have watched for years on Friday nights across Texas. I don’t know anything about that team or players from the 2006-07 season, but in a way, I know each and every one of them. Let’s hope the extra time in the gym produces a successful basketball season.

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“It’s the perfect day, nothing’s gonna bring me down….”

I woke up humming this song this a.m., and it brings to mind Reese Witherspoon all decked out in her delicious pink suit, strutting along in her pink stiletto’s. But what shines through even more is her attitude - it’s upbeat.

Today will be a great day. I can feel it. My daughter is celebrating her 13th birthday party tonight, and where else would a coaches kid hold a party? In the gym, of course. But this year, it’s boys vs. girls (she’s now officially a teen-ager), the Coach will ref, and four varsity players (her brother and three of his classmates, two girls, natch) will be coaching each side so it’s a competition amongst four friends as well. The younger brother is running the “concession stand” serving popocorn, nachos and PowerAde, and the middle brother will run the clock (reluctantly, and probably yanked from the golf course in time for tip-off). What’s made this party fun so far, was preparing for it. We asked each friend to submit his or her favorite song and burned them all onto a CD. We shot an “album cover” with my daughter posed next to a poster of Zac Efron (more on her High School Musical II party viewing another time) and photoshopped in “Ellyn’s 13th Birthday Jamz.” Before the party-goers take the court, they will have to match the favorite songs with their friends. All of the guests will receive a CD to remember the party.

“It’s the perfect day…..”

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