accidents happen...and update

I'm just gonna' lay it on the line for y'all...I hate football.

And after tonight, I hate it even more.

Last year, my son, even though he was in the 5th grade, played on the 6th grade football team at his school because not enough kids in the 6th grade go out for it. Unfortunately, the 5th grade players are side-lined most of the time because, afterall, it's a 6th grade team.

Needless to say, my son didn't get to see a lot of play time and came to dislike playing the sport. He decided half way into the season that he was not going to play it again because he was better than just standing on the sideline. I tried to convince him to try it one more time because being in the 6th grade, he would be played a lot more. He wouldn't hear of it and I completely understood his choice.

Over the summer, his father became increasingly annoying telling me that we should encourage him to play football this year. I told him that just because he enjoyed the sport didn't mean our son had to and I would not encourage him to play a sport that he had told me numerous times he didn't want to play. I got a lot of shit for that but I didn't give a damn.

Every August, the 6th grade football coach offers a flag football camp right before school starts. I signed my son up for it again this summer mainly because it gave him something to do than just sitting on his ass in front of the TV. He didn't want to do it but he did. When he came home after the first day of camp, he announced to me that he would, in fact, be playing football this year for his school's team.

Great.

Of course I support my son whatever he chooses to do. He's had a great run this season thus far and I'm extremely proud of him.

Then tonight happened.

One of his teammates, took a powerful hit to the back and landed face first on the field. We waited and waited. He didn't get up. In fact, it appeared that he wasn't moving at all.

Time passed. The kid's parents went out to the field and laid down next to him. Honestly, if it weren't for a few adults fanning him with towels to keep away the gnats, I would have thought he was dead.

I watched through the zoom lens of my camera. Seriously, he wasn't moving.

We all heard the sirens. I watched closely as I saw one of the paramedics touch each of his legs. I figured he was seeing if the kid had any feeling. We were all sitting on the edge of our seats.

They immobilized his head and neck, put him on a back board and then onto the gurney. Last I heard, the kid had gotten tackled pretty hard, twisted his back and when he landed, his legs went numb. He had feeling, but they were numb. Poor kid.

Fucking football.

So much time had passed that all us parents thought they would call the game but they went on playing. Soon after, I saw a helmet laying on the field and another one of my son's teammates crying out in pain.

Fuckin' A!!

Of course it's the quarterback who pretty much carries the game on his shoulders. Apparently what happened was that he was tackled so hard, his helmet literally popped right off his head and then the fucker who tackled him rolled on top of him and broke his fucking wrist.

Not his throwing arm but I doubt he'll be allowed to play with a cast on his arm. Frankly, my son's team pretty much sucks but this quarterback is really the star of the show.

Soon after, the game was called. It had something to do with the last injury but also because no one had a fucking clue how to turn on the field lights!

My son looked completely defeated coming off the field and so concerned for his teammates that I thought he was going to break down and cry. Even now, he's too torn up about it to tell me what his coach told them when the first boy was taken off the field.

So that was my evening...lovely, wasn't it?!

UPDATE: With regards to the boy who got sacked and then taken away by ambulance, he's fine. He's bruised and sore but all is well. The other boy didn't make out as well. He broke both his ulna and radius in his left forearm.

As I said before...fucking football!