Chapter 3 -- Orange and Blue Game / Wisconsin
Friday September 2
Chuck dropped me off for early morning practice. Word had gotten around, and nearly thirty boys were waiting for me on the practice field. When we started to draw a crowd, I talked Tim into coming in each morning to act as our coach. All the quarterbacks were here, so I had them do what Coach Mason had taught me. We got into two lines, and one quarterback threw to one side of the field, and the other quarterback would toss it to the other side. That way we could step up, throw the ball and then get back into line.
Tim's job was to keep everything moving and call out the pass he wanted to see. I would occasionally stop practice and share my knowledge with my teammates. It was quickly becoming evident that a couple of boys stood out in the underclassman group. I made it a point to help them out a little more because I saw them as the future of our football program.
I also invited two quarterbacks to join me each day when I spent time with Coach Mason reviewing the practice footage. I wanted to expose them to Coach's insights on what to look for in film study.
Coach Mason was happy because he saw that I'd shaken the rust off my game with the extra morning practices. That allowed him more time to explain why a play worked. I think it helped all of us when we understood that each man played a role. Everyone began finishing plays instead of going through the motions or taking off plays if the ball wasn't going their way.
Chapter 3 -- Orange and Blue Game / Wisconsin
Friday September 2
Chuck dropped me off for early morning practice. Word had gotten around, and nearly thirty boys were waiting for me on the practice field. When we started to draw a crowd, I talked Tim into coming in each morning to act as our coach. All the quarterbacks were here, so I had them do what Coach Mason had taught me. We got into two lines, and one quarterback threw to one side of the field, and the other quarterback would toss it to the other side. That way we could step up, throw the ball and then get back into line.
Tim's job was to keep everything moving and call out the pass he wanted to see. I would occasionally stop practice and share my knowledge with my teammates. It was quickly becoming evident that a couple of boys stood out in the underclassman group. I made it a point to help them out a little more because I saw them as the future of our football program.
I also invited two quarterbacks to join me each day when I spent time with Coach Mason reviewing the practice footage. I wanted to expose them to Coach's insights on what to look for in film study.
Coach Mason was happy because he saw that I'd shaken the rust off my game with the extra morning practices. That allowed him more time to explain why a play worked. I think it helped all of us when we understood that each man played a role. Everyone began finishing plays instead of going through the motions or taking off plays if the ball wasn't going their way.
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After practice, we all went to the cafeteria. Because of my agreement to pay off outstanding balances for families that couldn't afford school lunches, the school now had enough funds to do breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy. They always had cereal, oatmeal, and fresh fruit. Today they had scrambled eggs and bacon to go with it.
I hoped that we could at least provide two meals a day for the kids that needed it. I'd been appalled to learn that we had children going hungry right here in my community. The sad part was there were programs available to help them. The key was getting the information out to the ones that needed the help.
I used my breakfast time to study or just to reflect. I'd been thinking about what my uncle had asked me: what did I want my legacy to be? I knew I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. There were four specific groups I focused on.
After my mom's cancer scare, fighting that terrible disease was something that I wanted to work on. Maybe not by being a doctor, but by making sure they had the resources for researching cures and helping the families affected. The second was the pregnant teenagers and teenage moms who needed a safety net.
The third subject I was focused on was veterans because they'd volunteered to make our way of life possible. While talking to the director of the Homeless Coalition, I discovered that some vets fell through the cracks and ended up on the street. The sad part was that many of them had mental health problems and we'd turned our backs on that issue.
The last group was children and families below the poverty level. The hunger problem was just the start. If you were worried about food and housing, then you never got beyond that. There had to be ways for people to work themselves out of that situation. I knew that some people just wanted to game the system and live off their government handouts. They were the ones that put a bad taste in my mouth. I guess I couldn't begrudge them if they didn't see a way forward. I was sure that, if given the opportunity, the majority would work to make a better life for themselves and their families. They just needed to be shown how.
All these problems had been worked on for decades. In one of my history classes, we learned about John F. Kennedy. He said welfare should be 'a hand up, not a handout.' Somehow, we had to start helping people make a better life for themselves. We needed to see the number of people on welfare drop because of success stories and not see it grow year after year.
I was sort of caught in a Catch-22. It was clear that the problems were too big for an individual to solve. I also was beginning to believe that government wasn't the answer. One example my grandfather pointed out to me was the debt in our state. They say the highway to Hell is paved with good intentions. My state thought that if they threw money at a problem, it would go away. Nine of the last twelve years they'd spent more than they brought in and had accumulated nearly $16 billion in debt. That wasn't even the worst part. The state had over 200 billion dollars in unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities. If you broke it down by the number of taxpayers, they would each have to pony up $50,000 just to pay it off. I couldn't see how we could tax our way out of that hole.
I knew they'd done what they thought was right. The question wasn't whether the state government would either need a bailout or go bankrupt, but when.
Sometime soon the bills would become due, and the most vulnerable would suffer. I feared that when it happened, it would overwhelm the volunteer networks, and then people would get desperate.
Then again, maybe we should just kick that can down the road and let our children worry about it. Wait, that was me!
Getting in the way of any solution, no matter how easy or difficult, was the divisiveness in politics today. Everyone was out to get the other party. You had to toe the party line and sing from the same hymnal. When did we stop working together to solve the big problems and start just playing the blame game?
When I thought about all of that--the problems I wanted to solve, the government, the political environment--my head hurt. Did I really want to go into politics and try to clean up the mess that was being left for my generation? I might be better off sniping from the sidelines and working to secure my friends and family's future.
I think I always knew I wasn't one for the sidelines. What I suddenly understood was that when I went into politics, I would have to stand alone many times if I were to be true to myself and the people I represented. I just hoped I could stand up for my convictions. I'd seen too many politicians have grand ideas until they got the job. Then they did everything they could to keep it instead of what they truly believed in or were elected to do.
I took a deep breath. Was I ready for this? Apparently, the answer was no, not now. I had to laugh when I thought I might be prepared 'someday.' What the mental exercise did was help clarify things for me. I decided I didn't really hate my uncle for posing tough questions. I'd been focused on the present, and it helped to step back and look at the big picture.
I realized that in the end it really didn't matter if I did movies, played baseball or football. From each, there was a clear path to my ultimate goal. And who knew, I might figure out how to get there without going into politics. My grandfather had worked himself into power without ever having to take higher office.
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The class I found myself looking forward to was Photography. I know I'm a 'stupid boy' and should have connected it with modeling. I'd absorbed a lot more than I realized about different lighting, filters, framing shots and the like. Ms. Saunders spent the first week talking to the four of us taking the class to find our level of knowledge. She then planned to work with us individually to help us improve our craft. Today was my day to find that path.
"I think you have a firm understanding of what makes a good picture of a person," she started.
She'd shown me several portraits and more artistic photos and had me point out the flaws in each. Very few were perfect, but I'd seen thousands of photos and was now able to recognize what a good picture looked like. The other three people in my class would have to learn that before their photographs improved. I knew that because we were tasked with taking photos of people so Ms. Saunders could see what we could do. I'd sort of cheated and spent time with Halle before she left. She was my willing subject, and I got the benefit of her artistic side to help improve some shots.
"Where you are lacking is learning the technical side of photography," she explained.
