The begining of the end.

• THE4RINGZ

  

  For the past seven high school football seasons, I have had a son playing on the team. Tomorrow night, starts my last season as a football parent. I am saddened by the fact that I will no longer be able to watch one of my sons play football. It has been a good run, I have witnessed my sons mature in many ways both on and off the field. I have watched them develop into leaders, I have watched them grow and show absolute committment to something bigger than themselves.
  
  For all of you who have experienced this same thing, are experiencing it with me or will experience it soon, good luck. It is more difficult than I had imagined.
• Gardens35

  100% there Ringz. You know that last one is real tough. Got to see both my son and daughter compete in college, but enjoyed the high school times much more.
  
  Hope that you and yours (and everyone else) has a great final HS season.
• Mr. 300

  

  And tomorrow night, you'll get to see him lose his first game of his Sr season. You have my blessings and thoughts at this most difficult time.
• 1_beast

  

  I love ya 4Ringz...but after Mr300 hands ya a loss...recoup in week 2, beat Orrville....and prepare for a week 3 loss!!!
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Couple of jokers in every deck.
• Mr. 300

  

  Feel the love big guy! Just heard the Triway frosh won tonight 36-18 over WH.
• coyotes22

  

  THE4RINGZ;873818 wrote:For the past seven high school football seasons, I have had a son playing on the team. Tomorrow night, starts my last season as a football parent. I am saddened by the fact that I will no longer be able to watch one of my sons play football. It has been a good run, I have witnessed my sons mature in many ways both on and off the field. I have watched them develop into leaders, I have watched them grow and show absolute committment to something bigger than themselves.
  
  For all of you who have experienced this same thing, are experiencing it with me or will experience it soon, good luck. It is more difficult than I had imagined.

  I hope to one day be where you are at right now, saying that I have watched both my boys play high school sports as well. Good luck to the young 4RINGZ!!!!
• ernest_t_bass

  

  When you say you've "watched them mature," does that mean you watched them lose their virginity? Gross. Guess it's better than walking in on one son jerkin' it to another (naked) son on the bed.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Mr. 300;873987 wrote:Feel the love big guy! Just heard the Triway frosh won tonight 36-18 over WH.

  
  I heard that too.
  
  Good luck tonight.
• Mr. 300

  

  ernest_t_bass;874043 wrote:When you say you've "watched them mature," does that mean you watched them lose their virginity? Gross. Guess it's better than walking in on one son jerkin' it to another (naked) son on the bed.

  Douchebaggery at its' finest!
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Mr. 300;874051 wrote:Douchebaggery at its' finest!

  Reps!
• riders1

  

  Enjoy the season, it will goooo sooooooo fast, soon you'll be walking out on the field for parents night and then it will really hit you
• thePITman

  

  Have a fun time this year, Ringz! I hope you son has a blast not only playing the game of football but doing it with his friends! Great memories.
• riders1

  

  Have fun for sure and remember back to what it was like your senior season............. no wait don't, I think this is a PG-13 thread
• Go Falcons

  

  Ringz: Went through it last year with my son. It was really special! For me the build up to the last game was worse than when it was over. You can not help but swell with pride as your son takes that field. Gotta Love It!
• thavoice

  Enjoy this last seasson.
  
  Dont be one of those parents who rarely show up for games after your kids are done playing.
  
  You will find, going forward, that you will watch games alot more objectively after he graduates
• ernest_t_bass

  

  I'll contribute something positive here:
  
  Enjoy the last season, Ringz. Hopefully it's not just 10 games!
• Tiernan

  Its been on here before but worth seeing again just for you Ringz...
  

  I Turned Around Today

  I turned around today when the shadow came over me.I found a 6 foot man towering behind me. He told me he was getting ready to go to football practice. I am guessing he is about a ham sandwich away from 195 pounds in a size 12 shoe. "Tall and strong as an oak", his grandfather would have said. All I could think was, is this my boy?
  
  I turned around at the hospital 18 years ago and saw him for the first time. The nurses said "he looks just like you..." I'm sure I've never had a better compliment since.
  
  I turned around to get him out of the car for the first day of kindergarten. At the time I did not realize that was the start of a journey for both of us. He was taught right from wrong at home and everything else at school. He did well, just short of a 3.0 GPA. I too was just short of a 3.0 GPA…until the second day of school. He owes his Mom for that and a special thank - you to all his teachers.
  
  I turned around to find a young 8-year-old boy upset that he wasn't picked to be the QB of his Pop Warner team. I told him football is a team game made up of 11 players with each position as important as the next one. He said, "I still want to be a QB Dad but I guess I can try being good at something else." He did and he was.
  
  I turned around and found a 7th grader strapping on his football pads getting ready for his first Middle School game. He learned what it meant to represent "your school” and the thrill of playing in front of a crowd not entirely of parents in lawn chairs for the first time. He definitely noticed the pretty girls who were cheerleaders and yelled out his name when he did something good. His coaches improved upon the fundamentals he'd previously learned and taught him new skills and lessons of sportsmanship.
  
  I turned around and he was leaving the house at 7am to go to his first "two-a-day" practice in High School. Over the next four years he learned the complexities of the game, the importance of teamwork and the maturity to win or lose with honor. He developed friendships with a band - of – brothers; and if he's as lucky as I was, some will last a lifetime. With deep gratitude his mother and I thank the coaching staff for coming into his life and taking their time to teach him and his teammates about hard work, perseverance, dignity and loyalty, both on & off the field.
  
  I will climb the stadium steps this coming Friday night one last time and turn around to watch him run onto the field and play his last Home game. I will sit next to his biggest fan in the whole world and together we will be in awe of the young man who wears the _________ uniform. We will watch and cheer loud. He of course will hear our cheers but never acknowledge us. He will give his absolute best effort and in the end perhaps he will walk off the field in bare feet. Because he once told me he would leave his cleats on the 50 yard line after his last game. This would show everyone that he left it all on the field… the football field he had given so much ofhis time to, but had received so much from in return.
  
  Little does he know that he left his shoes by my heart a long, long time ago.
• Captain Cavalier

  

  ^^^ WOW!
  
  Tiernan...huge reps.
  
  4RINGZ, my wife and I are also going thru our son's last year of football.
  
  Hard loss to Kenton but it's over and on to the next.
  
  I'll be getting choked up every week knowing it's one game closer to his final game.
  
  We've been blessed to have watched him play in a state final game. I wish all parents could experience that.
  
  Come what may, it'll be hard...especially Senior night.
  
  Good luck to all parents and an injury free season for your sons.
  
  GO CAVS!!
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Captain Cavalier;875179 wrote:^^^ WOW!
  
  Tiernan...huge reps.
  
  4RINGZ, my wife and I are also going thru our son's last year of football.
  
  Hard loss to Kenton but it's over and on to the next.
  
  I'll be getting choked up every week knowing it's one game closer to his final game.
  
  We've been blessed to have watched him play in a state final game. I wish all parents could experience that.
  
  Come what may, it'll be hard...especially Senior night.
  
  Good luck to all parents and an injury free season for your sons.
  
  GO CAVS!!

  Will you be in Hicksville next Friday?
• Captain Cavalier

  

  Absolutely.
  
  CA - VS!!
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Captain Cavalier;875185 wrote:Absolutely.
  
  CA - VS!!

  
  I'll buy you a dog if you're there early enough.
• Captain Cavalier

  

  I just might take you up on that.
• sonofsam

  

  THE4RINGZ;873818 wrote:For the past seven high school football seasons, I have had a son playing on the team. Tomorrow night, starts my last season as a football parent. I am saddened by the fact that I will no longer be able to watch one of my sons play football. It has been a good run, I have witnessed my sons mature in many ways both on and off the field. I have watched them develop into leaders, I have watched them grow and show absolute committment to something bigger than themselves.
  
  For all of you who have experienced this same thing, are experiencing it with me or will experience it soon, good luck. It is more difficult than I had imagined.

  
  Rep Up... Gotta Love A Dad...
• Writerbuckeye

  

  I'm an uncle whose nephew just finished playing four years of varsity ball one season ago.
  
  It was amazing -- and frightening -- how quickly it all went by.
  
  Now I get to watch him play baseball at college, so there's some consolation.