November 19, 2009
BEST WEEKEND EVER - PART II
So, completely lost in the elation and hoopla that was the Bell Game this past weekend, was the fact that just one day later, I attended one of the greatest NFL games, and witnessed one of the greatest comebacks ever. I thought that since I'm normally writing about the Colts in my blog, how could I possibly skip writing about one of the most incredible, yet mind-boggling endings to a game in NFL history? The fact is, I couldn't, and seeing as how I'm not too busy tonight, I figured I would give you my thoughts.
I'm guessing it was about 11:25 on Sunday night (very late, because nationally televised games really take advantage of the whole "TV timeout" concept), and I was standing in an approximately 75% full stadium, in complete and utter shock. I looked at the Rusty and said, "What do they think they're doing?" I'm sure most of you have heard by now what I'm talking about. The Patriots, having absolutely DOMINATED the entire game, were about to commit what many would consider one of the dumbest decisions in the history of professional football. The ball is resting on their 28-yard line with two minutes left and it's fourth down. Every person in the stadium knows that the smart thing to do is punt the ball... everyone but the brash, arrogant, and apparently, too smart for his own good Bill Belichick. Because said Mr. Belichick believes that it is a good idea to send his offense back onto the field to attempt to get the first down, essentially putting the game out of reach at that very moment. And as Tom Brady, archnemesis to the Colts and every one of their fans, trots back onto the field, I had only one thought: "Oh, no." The reason I thought that is this. If the Patriots punt, there is no doubt in the minds of every single person in the stadium that Peyton Manning will lead the Colts down the field for the game-winning touchdown. It was a foregone conclusion. And Belichick knew this. And given Brady's proficiency for making big plays, and Belichick's ability to call them, I knew for a fact that if Brady only needed two yards, he was going to get it. So even though there's a chance we're getting the ball back at the Patriots 28-yard line and the game would almost certainly go to the Colts, I'm praying that they end up punting the ball. But they don't. A bobbled catch here, a semi-controversial ball spot there, and the Colts take over, leading to the game-winning touchdown.
To think, just about 20 minutes before that, there were people in our section who got up and left because they knew the game was over. One guy in particular stood out to me, muttering, "I'm not gonna stay here and watch this bulls***!" as he walked down the aisle. Well, my friend, I hope you enjoyed watching the highlights on SportsCenter that night and finding out that you were an idiot for leaving early. Truthfully, I never thought it was over. I had seen 18 drive the Colts to too many fourth quarter comebacks to ever completely believe that we were out of the game. I stayed up until past midnight when I was 15 years old in 2003 to watch the Colts come back from 21 in the final four minutes of the game and eventually beat Tampa Bay in overtime. I witnessed the Colts being down 17 with 4 minutes left against Houston last year, only to have several boneheaded plays by the Texans contribute to another amazing comeback. So being down late wasn't really out of the ordinary. But against a team as good, and as smart as the Patriots, this was seemingly a hopeless situation. But not too hopeless apparently, and I say this because of a comment I made late in the game. Maybe it's because I have unwavering faith in Manning. But after the Patriots went up 31-14 with about 12 minutes left, I looked at the Rusty and said, "I think we're going to win the game 35-34." I swear. I was prophetic last weekend. Seriously though, combine this game with the Bell Game, and can you imagine a better weekend of football than the one I just took part in and witnessed? Impossible.
And I think I figured out why Belichick went for it on fourth down deep in his own territory. He obviously read the Indianapolis Star at some point on Sunday, and found out that Coach Raeburn made a similar call in the fourth quarter of the Bell Game that will go down as legendary. That's the answer. Belichick was trying to be Coach Raeburn. The only difference is, 2 yards is different than 6 inches. Remember that next time, Bill.
Okay, so now that my hangover from the Bell Game has pretty much evaporated, it's time to move forward, looking ahead to this weekend. We drew Illinois Wesleyan in the first round of the playoffs, and they seem like a really good team, having won a very competitive conference in which the conference champion always does well in the tournament. I was slightly disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to head up to Cleveland to play Case for the third year in a row, but it's kind of nice to play someone new every once in a while. As good as we played last weekend, we'll have to play even better this weekend if we want to keep playing. The past couple years, we've played fairly well in our first couple games of the playoffs, and I feel that this year will be no exception. The only difference is, we don't have a sour taste in our mouth going into the playoffs, which is a wonderful feeling. But that in no way has limited our focus. Make no mistake about it, we want to be competitive on a national scale, and although the Bell Game was the main focus for our team this year, we want to do more. Ultimately, if we do well this weekend, we have a great chance to prove to a lot of doubters that we can be competitive in more than just our conference. Since Bloomington is only about two hours away, I'm hoping to see a lot of people there. And the weather won't be as nice as last weekend, so make sure to bring your snuggies.
And I'm going to end with this tonight, because it's something that has been bugging me all day. I have used my blog as a venting tool before, but it has been a while. So every Thursday morning, I have my Physics lab that lasts from 8-11. Yes, we go in there with the intention of getting all our stuff done and being productive with our time, but the ultimate goal is to be done by about 10:20 so we can make it to McDonald's breakfast. Very few times this year have we been close to that mark, so I would have to say it's been a disappointment so far. One time, we cut loose a couple of my group members early while the rest of us worked, and they ran to McDonald's and got us breakfast and brought it back. But it wasn't the same as actually going there and having a sit-down meal. But today was the day. It was roughly 10:20, and my partner Mark Thomas (my President) and I are leaving the Physics lab. Evan Isaacs has already been sent to get the car and is waiting on us outside. Tom Wade, another partner of mine, has gone to Mark's house and has actually gotten coupons that we intend on using. See, we have this all planned out. We get down to the car, and Mark realizes that he's forgotten his jacket in the lab. So he runs back up to get it, and we lose roughly a minute and a half. Seemingly no big deal, as we pick Tom up, and are in the McDonald's parking lot by 10:27. We immediately sprint from the car and are in line by 10:28, coupons in hand, ready to unleash a buy one - get one free McMuffin on that joint. But there are about 8 people in front of us, and ONE register open. ONE. 10:29 - 6 people ahead of us now, things aren't looking good. I start to sweat. The McMuffin looks like it's going to have to hold off for another day. 10:30 - 4 people in front of us... all of whom are disappointed when they hear the fateful statement: "Switching to lunch!" NOOOOO!!! Are you serious? We get there with 3 minutes to spare, you have ONE register open, and you won't serve us breakfast? After all we did to get there on time, from rushing through our experiments to speeding to a house to get coupons, we get rejected? Are you serious? So basically, if you get to McDonald's on time for breakfast, they're telling you that they don't care if there's only one line open. All those people in the back that could be running another register? Yeah, they don't care about your breakfast coupons. What a bunch of crap. Seriously, is there no grace period for McDonald's breakfast? Is there no rule that says, "If you're in the door by 10:28 and our employees are too lazy/careless to get you served by 10:30, we'll serve you breakfast anyway"? Apparently not. Hope you've enjoyed the business I've given you over the past 4 years, McDonald's, because Burger King is going to get a lot more double cheeseburger orders from here on out.
Okay, that felt really good. Need to go now, hope everyone has an awesome weekend. In going for it on fourth down only when you can QB sneak it... I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 16, 2009
BEST WEEKEND EVER
One year ago at this very moment, I was sitting in the family room of 13 Harry Freedman, and I wrote this: I don't need to give any kind of review of yesterday's events. Those of you reading this are likely well aware of what happened by now. You're also probably aware that I'm not super-pleased with the way I played. I'm not trying to make the game about me, because it was bigger than me. We win as a team and lose as a team, but the fact of the matter is, I didn't show up the way my teammates have expected me to, and that went a long way towards us walking under the bell-less entrance to the Allen Center for another year.
Well guess what? One year later, every single time I walk through the Allen Center doors, there is going to be ringing in my ears! HALLELUJAH!
I'm going to guess that it was about 4:03 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and I was standing on the field of Blackstock Stadium, taking in everything, living a moment that I had literally dreamed about for the last two years. The sideline reporter for HDNet came up to talk to me, and about halfway through the interview, I absolutely lost it. I had put so much time and preparation into that game, had put so much pressure on myself to perform and deliver a victory, for so many people. Very soon after last year's loss, I realized that this game was going to be played on my father's 50th birthday. As the sideline reporter asked me what the Bell Game victory meant to me, it became apparent that it was so much more than a game - more than a game to me, more than a game to my family, more than a game to this campus.
I said in my chapel talk last Thursday that two years ago, a 47-yard field goal sucked the life right out of this campus, and it hadn't returned since. As I stood there, hearing that Bell ring amongst the cheers and elation of my fellow students and teammates, the life returned to our campus. And I was completely overwhelmed. Never have I been so happy to be seen with tears streaming down my face in public. I've never wanted anything so bad in my life, and to come out on that stage, with the possible end of my college career (and ultimately, my legacy as a quarterback at Wabash) on the line, and perform like I had dreamed of for a year, the magnitude of the moment was completely overwhelming. Like I said, I've never wanted something so badly, but how much I wanted it for me absolutely paled in comparison to how much I wanted it for my family.
Over the past year, my mom has not gone a day without thinking about the Bell Game, asking me questions weekly of what we were going to do different this year that would put us over the top. Over the past year, my dad has been more subtle about it, but it became apparent how much this game meant to him. Over the past year, not a day had gone by that I hadn't thought about what it would be like to get that bell back on their field, and what it would be like to exercise the demons that had plagued me for the past two years. (Coach Creighton once told me about him running a marathon. It was a goal of his, and he worked hard every single day to make sure that he would complete it, fighting off exhaustion with determination and will. Once he finally made it to that day, and crossed the finish line, he said that he collapsed and started crying, overcome by emotion, thrilled that he had seen his goal to its completion.) I mention that story because the Bell Game was my marathon. As soon as that clock struck 00:00, absolutely everything that I had done to ensure a Wabash victory over the past year had become worth it. I do not regret one second of hard work that this team went through, and the ringing that you can now hear on our campus tells you why.
Early on in the game, I was fighting a case of the jitters, and I believe, rightfully so. No one put more pressure on me to perform than I did, and I was feeling the pressure that I had created early in the game. I knew that if I could get through the initial shock of it being November 14th, 2009 in Greencastle, Indiana, I would ultimately be fine. I just had to calm down, and I knew that getting an early score would be the key to that. Well unfortunately, we couldn't convert on our first drive, even after moving the ball all the way inside DePauw's 10-yard line. Even more concerning was the fact that our first drive was eerily reminiscent of last year's first drive, when we drove right down the field and missed a field goal. This year - missed field goal. "I hope this isn't a bad omen," I thought, as I stood there kicking myself for missing a wide open receiver on the third down play that led to the field goal attempt. Against good teams, you can't miss golden opportunities, and I felt that the first possession was one of the few we might get.
The defense played unbelievable. Their stop at the end of the first half, with DePauw driving and hoping to go up 14-0 was the biggest possession of the game. If they go up two scores going into the half, it's probably a different game. But our defense stepped up when the had to, and gave us the opportunity to run our two-minute offense, which we feel should score every time we're in that situation. Three Kody Lemond catches later, and it's 7-6 at the half, and we're feeling pretty good about ourselves. I spoke to our offensive coordinator at halftime, lamenting the fact that I had missed so many open receivers with less-than-stellar throws. "I'm good now," I told him, extremely confident that the jitters were gone. And apparently, they were.
The second half was arguably the best half of football of my life. My receivers looked absolutely WIDE open. My offensive line blocked for what seemed like minutes, giving me plenty of time to make my throws. The fact is, they seemed to want it more than in years past, and the way they performed proved that. John Horn played the game of his life. Wes Chamblee was his typical self, collecting 7 big catches for over 90 yards. And Kody Lemond is... well... Kody Lemond. And perhaps the biggest play of the game, perhaps the biggest play of my career, perhaps the biggest play of our team's season was yet to come.
Our defense made a great stop on 4th and 11 deep inside our territory when we were up 12 points early in the fourth quarter. I was nervous. I didn't want the ball in 18's hands, because I had seen him carve us up too many times in the past to be comfortable with that. I knew that we had to put together a drive that would eat up some clock so we didn't give him a chance. Taking time off the clock was the first priority, scoring was the second. The first play, I pulled the ball and got 9 yards, so it was a good start. The next two plays, we got stuffed for no gain, leaving us with 4th and about a foot from our own 18. Seemingly a punting situation, because we sure don't want to get stuffed and give their offense a short field. But I saw something the play before that I knew I could take advantage of. They lined up a defensive tackle to the left of the center, but not to the right, leaving me a pretty decent path to get the first down if I had sneaked it.
We called a timeout, and I walked over to the sideline, knowing what had to be done. Now, Coach Raeburn may tell it differently, or maybe he would admit what really happened. He was deciding between running our power play with our running back or punting it. I told him that he had to let me sneak it - which was going out on a limb. Because the quarterback sneak is not in our playbook. I literally pleaded with him. There's actually a pretty good picture of it (above left). After all the work that our team had put into this game, there was no way I was going to not get 6 inches. To his credit, he rolled the dice, which was probably one of the gutsiest calls in the history of Wabash football. I sneak it, first down, drive alive. 10 plays and about 6 minutes later, we're in the endzone and up 32-13, the game all but sewn up. All because Coach Raeburn made a gutsy call in a crucial situation... with a slight suggestion from his quarterback.
I want to thank everyone for all the support that not only this team has received, but that I've received leading up to, and after the game. I was bombarded with supportive emails all of last week, and they've continued to flood in following the game. You guys have no idea how much that means to me. I'm so happy that I have the monkey off my back, but this is a team sport, and I'm even happier about what WE were able to accomplish. I love the guys on my team, and I was not about to let them down for a third year in a row.
As far as the fans go, you guys were awesome. There's nothing like playing in front of a Wabash crowd, particularly the students, who were amazing supporters for us on Saturday. If you don't know how much the Bell means, all you have to do is take one look at our student section during that game... that will tell you a lot.
To finish off, I'd like to comment on something that I ran across last week, something that was sent out to our campus via an email. It's not unusual to see quite a bit of smack talk going on between Wabash and DePauw students in the week leading up to the game, so I was not surprised by this. Some writer for the DePauw newspaper wrote an article in October trashing us, everything from our culture to our athletics, comparing us to a "kid who always brought his brand new basketball to open gym just so he could be one of the captains". He mentions how DePauw's athletic teams dominate Wabash's, and in doing so mentions the fact that our baseball team beat DePauw last year for the first time in 10 years, and that our soccer team was able to tie their team this year, the best result that we had had in awhile against them.
Well, are those results themselves not saying something? Is the fact that we're seemingly turning the corner in various sports not enough? Does it really help your argument to mention that we have beaten and tied your school in sports that we apparently have no business competing with you in? See, my young friend, it's all about "what have you done for me lately." And as far as I can tell, what we have done for you lately is taken your bell, beaten your baseball team, and in your words, taken our ball and gone home. And if at anytime, you're feeling Coach Raeburn-like gutsy, feel free to come make a run at our metaphorical "ball". It will be sitting above the entrance to the Allen Center. Might want to bring a few of your co-writers though, because I've heard it gets heavy... good luck. I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 07:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
November 08, 2009
Can't believe it's here
I have waited 51 weeks for this very week. There is not one day that has gone by in the past year that I haven't envisioned this week. There isn't one minute spent in the weight room all offseason in which our players aren't thinking about this week. Truthfully, there isn't anyone who has probably thought about this week more than my mom, and she's not even involved in the game. But keep in mind, she is emotionally invested in the results of her baby boy's games, particularly this one.
I don't need to clear anything up, but I will anyway - it's Bell Week. I seriously cannot believe that it is here. There probably isn't any week throughout the course of the year that means more to this college than this week. There isn't anything quite like hearing that bell ringing from the steps of the chapel into the late hours of the night - but that sound won't be heard this week and it wasn't heard last year.
And I can assure everyone, that has not been lost on anyone on this football team, or anyone within the Wabash community. Every event that I've been to over the past year, the one question that resonates the most, and seems to be the most popular: 'Are we going to get the bell back?' Quite frankly, I'm tired of answering the freaking question. So just a friendly heads up - if you ask me that this week, you may not even get a reply. You may just get a blank stare that seemingly begs the question, "What do you want me to say? 'No?'" Truthfully, there's a good chance that I'll be on edge all week.
Honestly, the past couple of years, when we already had a playoff spot wrapped up, and hadn't even been challenged in the weeks prior to playing DePauw, I think we got soft. I think that we lost our focus, didn't concentrate on getting better, and almost let the Bell Game become irrelevant to our future games, because the playoffs were guaranteed. I never once heard anyone say the Bell Game wasn't important because we already had the playoffs locked up, don't get me wrong. But I don't ever recall anyone say it was a "must-win" game either. I have a feeling that cliche will be tossed around like a football this week.
And to me, there's far more riding on this game than just the bell. This is the culmination of my college career, of all of the seniors' careers. There's been all this talk about beating DePauw and then getting into the playoffs with a record of 9-1. Forget that. The way I see it, we're in the playoffs at 8-1 right now. If we win, we keep playing. If we lose, then everyone have a great week off at Thanksgiving. And truthfully, that's not something that I want. If I were at home over Thanksgiving break (thankfully, I haven't had that luxury over the past two years), I would be embarrassed. I don't like the idea of looking at people from my hometown in the eye and having to answer the question, "Shouldn't you guys still be playing football?"
But most of all, I don't want to be Peyton Manning versus Florida. I really don't want that "can't win the big one" stigma attached to my name. I would much rather have the "Peyton Manning versus the Patriots" career path (as most of you know, he's beat them a few times since they owned him early in his career). Sure, 25-1 against "the other guys" as a starter sounds great... 0-3 against the team from down South does not sound so great. I'm pretty sure that those other victories would mean a little more if I had even one win column against DePauw.
And just to let everyone know ahead of time, there is absolutely nothing that wasn't done in the past year, nothing that hasn't been done this season, and nothing that will not be done this week, to assure we hear ringing into the late hours of the night from November 7th to November 12th next year.
Okay, now that the unusually gruff side of Matt has said his piece, I'll move on to more pleasant happenings. I'm very happy with how we played this past weekend in our last tune-up before the bell game. We came out and took care of business from the start, and played far better than last weekend, on both sides of the ball. The passing game was efficient, my receivers made good plays, and my line gave me all day to find them. That's absolutely what should happen against the poorer teams on our schedule, but after the way we came out against Oberlin, we weren't taking anything for granted. It's hard to believe it was my Senior Day though. Where did the time go? It doesn't seem like very long ago that I was sixth on the depth chart (not embellishing at all, and if any of you had seen me my freshman year, you would think I was a different person now) and considering hanging up the football cleats for good. But with a little encouragement from my family, there I was on Saturday, standing alongside my other family, being recognized for the past four years of hard work and successes. And there are no other young men that I would rather be standing beside than the ones that were out there Saturday. My best friends, and personal protectors, Evan Isaacs, Skip Tokar, and Denver Wade have meant so much to me during my time here. Whenever I'm down, they're always there to pick me up (albeit sometimes with unconventional tactics). The fact is, I've been blessed to have chosen Wabash as my home, and if I had it to do all over again, I'd still be sitting where I am right now.
Okay, I missed my NFL thoughts last week because I was quite busy (speaking of being busy, I must apologize for not writing a late-week blog the past two weeks - I promise there were unforeseen circumstances that prevented my writing), so I have some catching up to do. A) Not sure the Colts can play like they've played the last two weeks and hope to beat New England next Sunday. I'm all for willing out a victory, but the past two weeks have been too close for comfort. Best rivalry in (PRO) football gets renewed next week. B) My hat's off to the Houston Texans. For the past 8 years, they have had a losing mentality, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and always finding a way to lose. It's just their culture. I know it's a loss, and this won't make anyone feel better, but they took one step closer to escaping that mentality today. C) Giants are in big trouble. D) Arizona may be the hardest team to figure out in the NFL in years. Lose to the 49'ers at home. Beat Jacksonville on the road. Lose to the Colts at home. Beat the Giants on the road. Lose to Carolina at home. Beat Chicago on the road. If anyone knows when this team is going to win, go out and buy a lottery ticket right now, because you have amazing prediction skills. E) I don't think it's any coincidence that the Titans begin to play Vince Young and they are suddenly on a two-game winning streak. He's 20-11 as a starter in his career. F) Bad loss for Green Bay. Something tells me that Aaron Rodgers will be a wanted man in that town, regardless of whether or not it's his defense that is losing games for him.
Okay, I've probably overstayed my welcome. I hope everyone has a wonderful Bell Week. In acquiring a 400-pound piece of steel in 6 days... I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:05 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
November 01, 2009
All downhill from here...
...and not really in a good way. Why, you ask? Because my favorite month has come and gone. Is it really November already? Is it really dark at 6 o'clock already? Are all the leaves gone from the trees already? Did The Rusty and a certain father of one of my friends develop a new training regimen over the weekend, already? (more on this later) Yes, I'm afraid so, so no more birthdays for me for the next 11 months, and perhaps saddest of all, no more Halloween marathons on AMC for awhile. I had a busy weekend, so I have a lot to get to tonight, but there's been something that a certain mother of mine has been pushing for a while, and even I feel that it needs to be addressed.
So my birthday was a couple weeks ago, and lost in the cards filled with $20's and get well wishes, as well as intriguing yet likely unconventional gifts from my closest of friends, was a more obscure gift that I consider to be a diamond in the rough. Those of you who are my friend on Facebook may already know (but that's likely few of you, given that my blog tailors mainly to the "Parents of Wabash Students", and consequently, "older than ideal Facebook friend" demographic), but my momma went all out this year. She got me a Snuggie. I know, envision me in a Snuggie... pretty awesome, right? For those of you who may not be familiar with the awesomeness/practicality of the Snuggie, it is essentially a bathrobe, but the difference is the opening is in the back, and it doesn't really close. Neither is it ideal for transport (i.e., I would not be able to run in my Snuggie, and from firsthand experience, it is difficult to walk up the stairs). But what it is ideal for is warming you up while not restricting all the activities you would normally want to perform while seated. "How is it any different from a blanket?" you ask. A blanket doesn't have arm-holes in it. A Snuggie does. So I may or may not be typing my blog right now while entrenched in my Snuggie. But I could not in any way be typing my blog underneath a blanket.
Now, those of you who are familiar with the cheesy commercials pitching the Snuggie are probably thinking I'm a dork, and that's okay. It actually started off as kind of a joke. I jokingly referenced the Snuggie when mentioning my birthday wishes in front of my mother. But once she got it for me, and I was able to experience the awesomeness firsthand, it became a joke no more. In fact, my good friend Denver Wade, whose birthday just happens to be 2 days after mine, was given a Snuggie by a Mr. Skip Tokar - but his is pink. Mine is blue. (By the way, that's Skippy protecting me Saturday at Oberlin.) I'm sure at some point, I'll put a picture on here of Denver and I chilling in our Snuggies, but that may be a while down the road. Basically, my goal from here on out is to pitch the Snuggie once every blog until my faithful readers start buying them. The commercial for them shows a whole crowd at a soccer game clothed in Snuggies... that's kind of what I envision for the Monon Bell Game. Can you imagine the intimidation factor of 5,000 people draped in red Snuggies? Wouldn't that be epic? Okay, probably not a good idea...
So I mentioned Mr. Skip Tokar earlier, and that is now a good transition to my next point. So we traveled to Oberlin over the weekend for our game, which was my first game back from my lung injury from a few weeks back. It was great to be back on the field. We quite frankly, played horrible in the first half, but were able to pick it up in the 3rd quarter and get the job done. Now, it was a good thing for a certain father of mine, and father of Skip that we decided not to show up in the first half, because if we had, they would have been worn out. Case in point... anyone who has been to a Wabash home game has seen the Sphinx Club guys do pushups for every point that we have scored following another score (i.e., Wabash scores a touchdown to go up 34-0, the guys do 34 pushups, and so on). Normally for our games in Ohio, alumnus Mike Warren's son Ben does all the heavy lifting. Well, as Mike informed me, Ben had an important basketball game to be at, so he was unable to attend. Enter my father, Mr. Cowbell himself, The Rusty. Although more known for his tendency to fight with opposing fans, he is quite the workout animal. So I look over at some point during the 3rd quarter yesterday, following a touchdown, and I see a little fella and a big fella. It doesn't take me long to figure out that The Rusty and Skip's father, Stephen Sr., are in the midst of a pushup contest, at the end of which, Wabash fan superiority will be claimed (see above left). Well, neither one of them looked like they were in the best of shape following the touchdown that got us to 41 points, so I'm not sure either one of them could be declared the winner (although The Rusty did claim that Mr. Tokar threw in the towel after 35, but I'm not sold just yet). Overall, it was a good day, and seeing the fathers staging a competition in the stands only made things better.
Okay, I'm gonna get out of here tonight without my usual Sunday night NFL comments because the World Series is on, and I need to focus. I'll get to them later on in the week. In seeing 5,000 strong in Snuggies in two weeks... I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
October 26, 2009
Might be time to come back now...
...because if I don't soon, I may not have a job when I do get back. Seriously. When I wrote my blog on Friday night saying that I had no doubt we were going to win the game, I did so thinking that our defense would hold Wooster to 10 points and that our running game would be the focal point. I didn't write it thinking I was going to have to follow-up with a blog conceding my position. Okay, maybe I won't go that far, but my protege stepped up in a big way Saturday, and I'll get to that in a bit.
What a great win for Wabash on Saturday, though. Talk about fighting adversity. Not only were we without a contributor on offense, but the man who picked off four passes in our game against Wittenberg last weekend, Addrian Frederick, was also sidelined with an injury (short sidenote on Addrian - I may be biting the hand that feeds me once a year, but how does Addrian not get NCAC defensive player of the week for his performance against Wittenberg last weekend? He had four interceptions. FOUR. Against a very good offense. I don't know if there's a written or unwritten rule stating that a player from a losing team cannot be player of the week, but that's an absolute travesty). All venting aside, I was so impressed with the way we came out and played. It was not an easy situation to go into. After all, we were starting a freshman quarterback, against a team that we knew was going to put up some points. Couple that with a few key injuries, and you have all the makings of a letdown game in which our hopes for the playoffs would be all but crushed. But like I said Friday night, Wabash Always Fights. None more so than this kid...
When Chase Belton came on campus a little over two months ago, he was an unassuming, fairly quiet kid who had a lot of maturing to do in his game. When we kept having receivers go down with injuries during camp, we even used Chase out at receiver, hoping that he could fill the void left by their injuries. And he did, more so than I would have guessed a quarterback would have been able to. And he never complained. And he had every right to. Coming into a new system is tough enough - learning two positions is next to impossible. But he did, and once the receivers go healthy, he came back to quarterback full-time. Early on, I wasn't sure he was going to be much more than a novelty in the backfield - after all, he's far more athletic than me, but he had a lot of learning to do when it came to his reads and decision-making when throwing the ball. But as the weeks went on, he got better and better, and before I know it, he's making absolutely perfect throws that I can't even make.
After I went down, it was going to be between Josh Miracle and Chase for the starting job while I was injured. He shared some time with Josh during the Wittenberg game, but quite frankly, looked a little bit out of his element. In sharing time, he just never really got comfortable, and I think maybe struggled to get adjusted to the speed of the game. But somehow, the following week, something changed. So when I wrote my blog on Friday night, I was truthful in saying that I was confident our quarterback would get it done... I just had no idea it was going to be like this. Chase was 18-31, a good completion percentage against any defense, let alone one of the best ones in our conference, and threw four touchdowns. Keep in mind, he's a freshman, and this is his very first start. 12 weeks ago, he had never run this offense before - now, he's running it like a seasoned vet. But here is the key statistic - ZERO interceptions. Maybe I should follow his lead. He did the one thing that he had to do in order to win this game - take care of the football. Not only did he take care of the football, but he learned a very valuable lesson on Saturday: When in doubt, throw to #1. Because he's not bad.
Overall, though, I'm very happy with the win. And I'm very happy to report, I've practiced the past two days. Still am not sure if I'll be cleared to play by this weekend by the medical staff, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm ready to go and I can't wait to get back onto the field against Oberlin this weekend. And it's not that I have to play this weekend, because I don't. I'm extremely confident that the other QBs can get the job done just as well as me. But I need some game experience before the Bell Game. Because you can't take a 5-week hiatus from games and expect to go in there and light it up - you just can't. So my body is telling me that I'm ready to go, hopefully the medical staff will tell me the same thing at the end of the week.
Okay, as has become customary following a weekend of football, I have some thoughts about the NFL. 1) Say what you want about the Colts' schedule so far, but they're not leaving anything to chance. They are absolutely killing teams, and with the parity in the NFL, it's rare to see a team take care of business every single week like they do. Colts fans, don't take this era for granted, because you are witnessing one of the most special runs in the history of the NFL. 2) It's looking very much like a Colts - Saints Super Bowl at this point. First team to 45 wins it. 3) I get really tired of hearing all the Bears fans all the time, because they make a huge deal about relatively small accomplishments, but yesterday, I almost felt sorry for them - almost. 4) Just when you think Oakland has turned a corner - BOOM. Back to inferiority. 5) Dallas isn't dead yet. And Tony Romo really isn't that bad. 6) Cleveland may be the most sorry excuse for an offense I've ever seen. They make the Raiders look like the Saints.
Okay, time to roll out. Hope everyone has a great week, and enjoy wrestling tonight - I know I will. In hopefully earning my job back... I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 07:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 23, 2009
Coming from a weird place
It's been awhile since I've felt this out of place. Almost like being at a wedding reception at which you don't know anybody and only went because you're trying to make your significant other happy. That's where I am right now. At a metaphorical wedding reception. The only difference is, I do know the people I'm with now. And they know me so they won't take this wrong - I really don't want to be with them right now. And this is my family. And they know where I'm going with this - I'd rather be with my football family on the road to Wooster. Essentially, the last long, drawn-out paragraph has been a rhetoric major's way of saying that for the second week in a row, I'm not playing for Wabash due to the complications that came from the partially collapsed lung a couple weeks ago. And this hurts, probably even more than last week. And that's probably because I'm closer and closer to being healthy, but still not to the point of being back on the field. The good news is, I'm recovering. The bad news is, I'm not yet to the point of being able to take a hit, and for the first time since my freshman year, I'm sitting at home while the Wabash football team travels on the road. I'll be there with them tomorrow, since I'm traveling with my parents, but not being with my football family on a Friday night simply isn't the same. So there's no suspense this week. No, "Hudson's been at practice all week, but hasn't done much." No, "Hudson's still questionable and is a game-time decision." You heard it here first. 14 won't be out there tomorrow.
Our team plays at Wooster tomorrow, and this is a big one. Not only are they an excellent team, but this is basically a do-or-die week for us, something that we haven't faced in the past couple years, except for the "win or go home" realm of the playoffs. I'm really interested to see how we do. I'm fully confident that the guys on our team will step up when we absolutely have to. In my last blog, I never got to the game last week. What a heartbreaker. The ebb and flow of the game had me absolutely believing that it was going to end up exactly like last year. A defensive struggle the entire game, with each defense absolutely dominating the opposing offense. We struggled running the ball, but had a few big pass plays every once in a while. The defense comes up with a big stop at the end of the game, and we put together a drive to go down and tie Wittenberg in the last two minutes - with a touchdown pass - to Kody Lemond... for the second year in a row. Deja vu all over again, it seems. Our defense is going to get a stop, and Josh Miracle is going to lead Wabash down for the winning field goal... but it didn't quite happen that way. Our defense was absolutely gassed. They had fought hard the entire day and simply couldn't anymore. They played maybe the best game I've seen a Wabash defense play in the four years that I've been here. But unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough. They needed a little more help, and unfortunately, we couldn't give it to them. But I'm proud of how we played, overall. We were faced with a lot of adversity, and were playing against perhaps the best team we'll play all year, and still, we fought until the very end. The last four games against Wittenberg have been decided by 2, 7, 3, and 3 points, and we're 2-2 in those games. When two tremendous teams play against each other, it usually ends up like that. But regardless of the final score, I'm proud of the way we fought.
Tomorrow, we will see more of the same. The defense will come out and be incredibly solid, and the offense will fight through some adversity and get the job done. There's no doubt in my mind, and I can't wait to see it. There's no doubt in my mind because Wabash fights through adversity. Wabash fights when things look bleak. Wabash doesn't make excuses. Wabash Always Fights. I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18, 2009
What an Eventful 9 Days it's Been...
Hard to believe all that has happened over the course of the last 9 days. In fact, this has the potential to be one of my longest blogs ever - might even have to break it up into two or three parts. The good news is, you will get nothing but the truth from me this evening - no rumors, no hearsay, no gossip. Straight truth. And I apologize for not getting to this sooner (believe me, I REALLY wanted to), but there is a good reason for that which I will get to later. Before I get into the Wabash game against Wittenberg yesterday, let's rewind to the previous Saturday when we played against Washington University.
Sometime late in the first quarter, I scramble on third down in an attempt to get a first down. Two guys are coming at me, and even though people have been telling me to slide (to avoid injury) for awhile now, my competitive nature and desire to get the first down trump all the voices in my head. I dive forward between the two defenders - one kind of stops me, the other puts his helmet square in the right side of my ribs. I get the wind knocked out of me (quite literally). Thankfully, I was close enough to Coach Raeburn to signal to him that we need to take a timeout. The chain gang comes out onto the field (which is essentially a timeout), and I go back onto the field, simply thinking that I needed to catch my breath, and that I'd have sore ribs for a few plays. But the pain didn't go away. In fact, it got worse over the course of the day. Now, keep in mind - this isn't Kenyon we're playing. This is a good team that had us on the ropes at halftime, the first time we had really been in a game all season. We're up four at the half, and there's no way in the world I'm telling anyone of medical authority that there may be something more serious than bruised ribs going on. We come out of halftime, play much better in the second half, and win the game 31-12. The atmosphere was joyous, and we were very happy to get out with a win. After the game was over, I was in a lot of pain, I'm not going to lie. I was talking to the local sports guys, and in the middle of the whole thing, my voice started to weaken and I couldn't enunciate at all. My voice literally trailed off... and I apologized to the guys and told them that I'd have to stop. Once they left, I got lightheaded, and went down to a knee. I had my brother and my good friend Denver Wade walk me into the training room to get checked out.
So I get checked out, it appears as if nothing is broken, and that I'm just sore. Very possible, considering I've never had rib issues before. Fast-forward later on in the evening. I hop in the shower, and after a few minutes of talking to one of my friends who came to check on me, pass out in the shower. One minute I'm telling him how I feel, the next minute I'm looking up at him and three others who have heard the boom from the other room (don't try to visualize this scenario, it's unnecessary). So my parents (who are shacked up with my townie grandpa) rush to the house and take me to the ER. At this point, I literally have no idea what is going on. Why did I pass out? Did I really get hit that hard? Do I have a concussion? So I get to the emergency room and they use a stethoscope to check my breathing - turns out, my right lung sounds a little off. After an x-ray and CT scan, they conclude that my right lung is 25-30% collapsed, and that I'm bleeding internally. Not exactly what I wanted to hear. They inform me next that I'm going to have to go to St. Vincent hospital in Indianapolis to have a chest tube put in - again, more information that I simply do not want to hear. The reason that they have to put the chest tube in is because they need to drain the blood that has collected in my chest cavity.
Basically, in a span of 2 hours, I go from believing that I'm just being a sissy and have bruised ribs, to knowing that my lung is partially collapsed and that I need a chest tube put in, in INDY no less. Quite a ride, to say the least. The next thing I know, I'm riding in an ambulance to Indy at 10:30 Saturday night, quite well aware that I'm going to miss our second biggest game of the year next week (and to all of those who read the local newspaper, I apologize. There was absolutely no chance I was playing this weekend, and we all knew this 7 days in advance. All that "Hudson's status in question" stuff was simply to keep Wittenberg guessing. Sorry). So I get to Indy, they put the tube in, and within minutes, it's drained about a liter and a half of blood from my chest cavity (I guess one would consider this internal bleeding). The morphine makes me itchy, and I get about 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night.
So I spend all Sunday in the hospital, get the chest tube removed (which was excruciating, by the way) Monday morning, and get to come home Monday afternoon. Wow, what a strange turn my life took in the span of two days. But my right lung is fine now, completely re-inflated, and quite functional. I still get out of breath really easily though (that may be for another reason, but we won't get into that just yet).
So some of the rumors were true. Yes, I had a partially collapsed lung. Yes, they had to transport me to Indianapolis. Yes, I almost passed out after the game and actually did pass out later. No, they did not stat flight me to Indy. (as the entire town of Salem now thinks, thanks to someone who may or may not be known as my brother) No, I did not die, nor do I believe that I came close to dying. No, I'm not playing against Wittenberg. So I've been asked this question numerous times - how long am I going to be out? Not really sure yet. Really hoping to be back in a couple weeks. If I can crank up the rehab and be back this week, that would be great. I'm certainly not ruling it out (although my mother seemed to scoff at the idea today). We'll just have to see how things go. Okay, I'm getting really long-winded and my pain pills are making me tired - but there's so much more to get to. So I'm going to save it for another day. Sometime in the next couple days, I'll address the game this past weekend and also give my NFL thoughts for the weekend. Thanks to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers over the past week - I really appreciate and needed them. In hoping none of you ever have to get a chest tube removed, I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
