Studying and Football

I will have to keep this one short as I have a small mountain of work to get through before the night is out, however I thought it necessary to update on the weekends events.

Last week included very little outside of studying and sleeping. I have been under the weather so sleep is of the essence and with finals this week and next, studying is a pretty close second. However, the weekend is meant for taking breaks and with that in mind I was geared up to play Hockey on Saturday and Football Sunday.

Saturday's fun ended before it started as our game got cancelled because "the pitch was frozen." This was the same reason our practise last Monday was cancelled as was out football practise on Tuesday. I was really looking forward to the game because I really did not want to be studying and I haven't played in 2 weeks now! I am getting that competitive itch that needs to be scratched. Instead I spent the majority of the day ensconced in International Financial Management which is only slightly more interesting than watching grass grow. Alright I admit it is not that bad, it is more like watching grass grow on the discovery channel where they speed it up for you and there is always a lady bug that climbs to the top of the middle blade.

Sunday almost started the same way with the Garsqube (our home pitch) staff trying to cancel our football game because, again, the pitch was frozen. By the way, it was -3 in Glasgow on Sunday. None the less this guy was convinced that we would injure each other if we played on a tough surface. I had to explain to him that a large part of the game was full grown men running full tilt into each other with their heads and shoulders. He admitted to not knowing a lot about the game and decided to wait till the refs showed to make a decision. It just so happens that in Scottish American Football the refs get paid just for showing up and they don't actually have to ref the game at all. So they jumped at the chance to go to the pub early and also said the pitch was cancelled. Our coaches made a few calls and rounded up another set of referees while we continued to work on the guy who ran the place. After about 2 hours of negotiations and the promise of booze he agreed to let us play. Once the ambulance showed up and everything was sorted out with the new refs, after a total of 4 hours we kicked off. And let me tell you, it was the start of something beautiful. This being my last game of 'professional' football I decided to go all out. Playing offense I recorded 18 blocks and a countless unknown total of hits. I took pride in the fact that two kids bounced off me on the opening kick off and in the second drive I hit a guy so hard he was sent backwards and knocked over another one of his players on his way down. In the 4th quarter I was changed to slot and was marked by a giant of man who didn't like me much and it wasn't even because of me talking to him. He was upset by the score and with the fact that I made him look like a clown so he decided to knee me in my left quad. It was not comfortable and they got a penalty on the play which eventually led to us scoring but I decided I would even the playing field anyway. - Before I get on with this story I will explain a key rule in the game of football. When playing offense or defense any player can block any other player provided they do not hold their opponent, block them in the back or touch them if the ball is being thrown in their direction. With that being said, it is not only 100% legal but also highly encouraged to hit anyone and everyone in the front as often as possible. The difference between this kind of hit and the hitting in almost any other sport I can think of is that you are allowed to leave your feet to hit someone. - Now then, on with the story. After being kneed by this oaf I was a little sore and not feeling overly friendly. I lined up with him again and give him a little smile that said "I know something you don't know and this is going to be fun." He started talking about how he had played high school football for a tier one school in Canada and how much of a joke I was. The ball was snapped, I stepped wide, planted one foot, dropped my outside shoulder and cut blocked that SOB as hard as I could. A cut block is when you drive low cutting the players legs from under them and sending them over your shoulder and onto their face. He was obviously upset by this got up and started grabbing and shoving and was consequently penalized another 15 yards. We lined up again and this time he didn't have nearly as much to say. So when the ball was snapped and I again stepped wide and planted a foot he ducked down expecting me to cut him again, so I launched myself into the air like a bugs bunny cartoon human rocket. It so happens that this giant of a man had lowered himself to the perfect height. I drove my shoulder and head right through him and made him think long and hard about ever kneeing anyone ever again. After this little spectacle which had got much attention from both benches, my coach asked if I wanted to play Defense. So I went in to play strong side linebacker and in 3 plays I sacked the QB twice and then had two O-linemen cover me and our other linebackers mobbed him anyway. On the second sack the QB actually shook my hand and told me it was a great hit. I should also mention that made my receiver coach pour an entire drink all over himself when he jumped with excitement over the sack. We won 30-6 against the undefeated Edinburgh team and I can't think of a better way to end my football career. And on a huge plus note, I played university football and never had to go to the hospital!

The rest of Sunday and all day today I have spent back in the books trying desperately to have something stick before Thursdays exam. The next update should include guest arrival, the completion of one exam and any shenanigans between now and then.