Foosball and A Long Talk

Tonight was the last football banquet. Make it number three for me. I went into the night dreading it thinking it was going to be a bring 5 hour ordeal, it turned out it was only slightly boring and only 4 hours.

My day leading up to the banquet was extremely hectic. I spent 3 hours cleaning my room and rearranging it. I threw out 20 shoe boxes that had been living in my closet. It's amazing how much room is actually in that sucker.

To the real part of the night though, the banquet. The banquet was good. I know I said it was boring because it was. But boring can be good. I feel like this is going to turn into a stream of consciousness blog so here goes.

I was sitting at the senior table thinking the whole time what football did for me. It did a ton. It made me a part of something bigger than myself, something baseball and soccer never really did. I can say I'm not best friends with anybody on the football team, but the bonds on that team are special. Special in a different way than the soccer team. Those guys are like blood brothers and the football team are almost adopted. Coach Palko gave me the award for the "smartest soccer player ever to play football" and that really is what I was. 80% of the coaching staff didn't really know me and didn't really have an impact on my play. But I learned from each and every one of them.

As for my role on the team I felt like I played my part well. I was the "foot fairy" that those 90 other guys trusted to put the ball through the uprights. They trusted me with something none of them could do. Sure, they thought they could, but they all suck at kicking. They heckled me throughout the year for missing extra points and field goals and they said, "that's your only job how'd you screw it up." I know they were kidding around, well I think they were. Kicking is honestly the most stressful thing I have put myself through. No matter how many balls I kick in practice when game time comes there are so many factors that play into a kick going well. The wind, the snap, the hold, the blocking, and then most importantly. Me.

That's what I loved about kicking was that I had the ultimate say in where the ball went. Aside from Coach Smiley deciding where a punt was supposed to go or where a kickoff was headed it was up to me to do it. I put everything i had into kicking these last 3 years and I like to think that I helped the team out and make my parents proud.

I gave a speech at the banquet like all the seniors did, but after the speech Mr. Marshall told me that I might want to reconsider accounting and go into politics. That was cool to hear because I don't consider myself to be a great speaker. I think writing is my forte. But speaking and writing tend to go hand in hand and I guess maybe my public speaking skills are growing. (See Mr. Denk you are teaching us.)

While on the topic of Mr. Denk I'd just like to thank you. For everything. For getting me into blogging, for teaching me about it, for commenting on my blog, for making me laugh, but more than any of that thank you for giving me someone to look up to. At 30-however old you are I can say that I truly look up to you. I was discussing you with someone tonight and we both came to the conclusion that you are a genuinely good person. You've showed me so much in the first two nine weeks that I've had you and I can't thank you enough. You really understand me and that's something very few people do. The other day in class you told me you thought I was going to be successful. That is the greatest honor in the world. Success is such a beautiful thing; and to hear you, a man I respect so much, say you thought I'd be successful. It was a moment where I felt untouchable. I feel truly blessed to have you as my teacher this year, and I hope that one day down the road I can look back and call you a friend. Because you are just an amazing, amazing person who has touched my life.

(Hopefully you read this, or else it will be pretty awkward...just saying...)

After the banquet I came home and ended up in a long conversation on the phone. I talked for over two hours and never once felt bored or wanted to say goodbye. It was a good talk that spanned too many topics to name. But the overall theme was life. Life in general. People in life, things in life, and just life. Life Life Life. I haven't talked on the phone with someone for that long in what seems like ages. It was nice to do. I had a good time and was glad to hear it could brighten their day as well.

This has been going on long enough and I have grown tired. But I figure I would give you an update...

PROM UPDATE: STILL DATELESS. (Shockingly Hayden Panettiere hasn't asked me to prom or for my hand in marriage. I'm starting to think I'll have to explore other options...)

NP: Hometown Glory- Adele