Football Stars For Tomorrow - www.storkmontgomery.com
The Championship
Giving it away
Recruiting - one minute it's hot, the next it's not
This it it. This will be the last "From Behind The Lens" for 2006.
It has been a great year; I have three topics, so let's roll.
The Championship
I dressed as Jolly ole Saint Nick for the Championship. Yes, I was in a full Santa costume from head to toe.
Watching the game from high above the stadium brought a lot of joy to my heart. I thought about all the great moments that have happened through out the year as the Bulldogs did what they do best. They were on a collision course for the 5-A State Crown.
I will admit there were times I had my doubts. I still think in order to win big games you must have played in others in order to be prepared. When we beat Riverdale, I truly thought we were on our way to victory lane.
The adrenaline rush at the end of the game when you win something like that is a one time thing. It’s like winning a new car or being crowned sales person of the year. You are so worked up you can’t talk.
Santa did deliver after the game as I had the only available copy for Coach Shadowens. Guess what? He had been a good boy.
Giving it away
Well now that you won the championship, how do you pay for the rings?
Football is the most expensive sport to play. Helmets are 174.00, Shoulder Pads run from 225.00 all the way to 300.00. It takes a lot of cash to protect a kid on Friday Night. To run the electricity for the lights, the grass seed it took last spring, the water it takes to make the field look nice. Folks all those bills are due today.
Even me, my camera cost a lot of money. I have it insured in case in falls off the press box. To film a game the blank tapes are 7.00 a piece. (It takes two to cut a game) The broadcast video blank is 2.00 the plastic cover is 2.00. The VCR I use is not from Wal-Mart.
I feel like a fisherman who fills up his boat with 3.00 a gallon gasoline to run up and down the river to catch a fish. You don’t do it to make money. You do it to give it away and make a difference. The hours I spend helping kids is countless. You give your time, your knowledge and part of your cash to be a part of something great that money can’t buy. I think folks loose sight of the reason why we are here. God put us here and God gave us what we have. He can snap his fingers and take it away. He gives us those things to see what we do with our skill set. Remember life is a test.
BTW (By The Way) Each Ring cost a little over 300.00 a piece from what I have been told. I am cutting copies of the championship game, giving them to the school to help raise money for those who can’t afford a ring.
Recruiting - one minute it's hot, the next it's not
Golden Tate is going to play for the Golden Dome (Notre Dame). What an athlete they got. When a player like him commits to college, it rocks the 5 other schools who thought they had a chance to get him. Now the other schools are forced to look else where.
The colleges are required by NCAA rules to take a break through Christmas. Some call it "quiet time" or "dead period". Winning your bowl game can sway a decision.
If a college gets blown out in their particular bowl game, you will see decisions that were once welded shut be changed. Kids like to be a part of a winning program.
Colleges will be recruiting during the "quiet time", but it’s not face to face, it's done on the field. A college can sway a lot of kids by winning and creating a vision on TV that is the place to go to school. It is a wonderful time of the year, but we still have a ton of recruiting left on the plate.
PS: I will be reporting from the road the next time I write, so stay tuned as we pack up the equipment and head out. I will take some pictures and upload them as we bring it all to you.
That's A Wrap
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I have truly been blessed. Santa gave me memories that nobody can steal and I captured them all "From Behind The Lens".
Thanks to all of you who read this rag and I will see you in 2007.
God Bless and Take Care
From Behind The Lens.
The Stork
“A man who truly delivers”
Football Stars For Tomorrow - www.storkmontgomery.com
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
BEHIND THE LENS - December 1 2006 -
Football Stars For Tomorrow - www.storkmontgomery.com
The Ride!
Performing when it counts!
Ravenwood
This it it! The Big One !
Do you remember that I mentioned at one time that we are on a collision course for the 5-A State Championship? How Sweet it is.
The Ride!
This has been fun but exhausting at the same time. For those of you who have been so happy and so nervous at the same time you know exactly what I am talking about. We are less than 33 hours from playing the game and 36 hours from knowing how this will all end.
My life has been a roller coaster, trying to manage my personal side, my job side, and riding the wave. It's times like these that certain things just don’t get done or there are never enough hours in the day, much less energy.
God has blessed me as I ponder back to the first game of the season against La Vergne. I have pushed record so many times to capture each play of every game and now the biggest one of all is in front of me. I have watched these kids play football since they were 8 and 9 years old.
I used to think "Wow, we are playing for the Mid State Youth Football Championship". I was nervous then but I am bonkers now. When you beat a Riverdale or Ooltewah and get home after the game, you can’t sleep. You can’t eat, your nerves are bouncing all over the place.
I am excited for everybody who has had the joy of watching this moment in history take place. There are only two rides that are bigger than this. Playing for a National Championship on the college ride and playing for a National title on the NFL ride.
Special thanks go out to all of you who have taken your time to call me, to email me, and to just stop and say congrats. You have waited for this one and it is here.
Yes, I believe.
Performing when it counts
The cliché "Big time players make Big time plays" is correct in so many ways.
I like this one better "Everybody performed when it counted from top to bottom".
A big time play can never happen unless all the other parts are working together. The last second shot of basketball is usually done off of a crisp pass or a sweet pick. Performing when it counts is not for the novice, it is for all those who train hard for the big day. Success is usually preceded by buckets of sweat. You are not going to be perfect every game or every contest, but when the lights are brighter than they have ever been the most experienced athletes and people always get it done.
If you stop and think about your job the best people you work with or know usually perform best when the pressure is on. I love it when the pressure is on at work. I may not catch the long pass or every pitch, but I love to grind it out consistently and successfully on all the other ones.
The bottom line is work to make yourself better each and everyday so that when they do put the lights on you bright it is rewarding.
Ravenwood
We played this team earlier in the year and I don’t think we had a light on in the house. We showed up, but did not play to our level of experience.
This game has a lot of attention. The web servers that host the message boards have been busy. Ravenwood has beaten us twice in two meetings. They beat us last year in regular season and handed us our lunch this year in regular season. These teams are evenly matched.
I work in Franklin and drive through Ravenwood country everyday. Signs are sticking in the yards bearing the bird with the red and black colors. I was at the dog pound early this morning only to view a lot of purple and gold.
This is it, the big one. I don’t have to tell you what my pick is or what I feel. I am like the kids who just can’t wait to perform. This one is televised state wide on Fox stations. The flag ship for Rutherford County sports will be on hand to give the Bulldog angle
1450 AM - Ravenwood vs Smyrna <- Click to Listen LIVE
If you want my last link www.coacht.com will be doing play by play and game-cast. The kick off is slated for 7pm CST. I would say by 9:30 pm tomorrow night we will know the results.
Thanks to all who have followed us and watched this ride take place.
GO BULLDOGS !!!!
That's A Wrap
In closing, for those of you who will attend the cold game tomorrow night I will be in rare form. So just look to the top of the press box I guarantee you can’t miss me.
Special thanks go out to my brother Sam for running the website. He never stops at keeping up with all the articles, emails, web stats you name it, he does it.
God Bless and Take Care
From Behind The Lens.
The Stork
“A man who truly delivers”
Football Stars For Tomorrow - www.storkmontgomery.com
The Ride!
Performing when it counts!
Ravenwood
This it it! The Big One !
Do you remember that I mentioned at one time that we are on a collision course for the 5-A State Championship? How Sweet it is.
The Ride!
This has been fun but exhausting at the same time. For those of you who have been so happy and so nervous at the same time you know exactly what I am talking about. We are less than 33 hours from playing the game and 36 hours from knowing how this will all end.
My life has been a roller coaster, trying to manage my personal side, my job side, and riding the wave. It's times like these that certain things just don’t get done or there are never enough hours in the day, much less energy.
God has blessed me as I ponder back to the first game of the season against La Vergne. I have pushed record so many times to capture each play of every game and now the biggest one of all is in front of me. I have watched these kids play football since they were 8 and 9 years old.
I used to think "Wow, we are playing for the Mid State Youth Football Championship". I was nervous then but I am bonkers now. When you beat a Riverdale or Ooltewah and get home after the game, you can’t sleep. You can’t eat, your nerves are bouncing all over the place.
I am excited for everybody who has had the joy of watching this moment in history take place. There are only two rides that are bigger than this. Playing for a National Championship on the college ride and playing for a National title on the NFL ride.
Special thanks go out to all of you who have taken your time to call me, to email me, and to just stop and say congrats. You have waited for this one and it is here.
Yes, I believe.
Performing when it counts
The cliché "Big time players make Big time plays" is correct in so many ways.
I like this one better "Everybody performed when it counted from top to bottom".
A big time play can never happen unless all the other parts are working together. The last second shot of basketball is usually done off of a crisp pass or a sweet pick. Performing when it counts is not for the novice, it is for all those who train hard for the big day. Success is usually preceded by buckets of sweat. You are not going to be perfect every game or every contest, but when the lights are brighter than they have ever been the most experienced athletes and people always get it done.
If you stop and think about your job the best people you work with or know usually perform best when the pressure is on. I love it when the pressure is on at work. I may not catch the long pass or every pitch, but I love to grind it out consistently and successfully on all the other ones.
The bottom line is work to make yourself better each and everyday so that when they do put the lights on you bright it is rewarding.
Ravenwood
We played this team earlier in the year and I don’t think we had a light on in the house. We showed up, but did not play to our level of experience.
This game has a lot of attention. The web servers that host the message boards have been busy. Ravenwood has beaten us twice in two meetings. They beat us last year in regular season and handed us our lunch this year in regular season. These teams are evenly matched.
I work in Franklin and drive through Ravenwood country everyday. Signs are sticking in the yards bearing the bird with the red and black colors. I was at the dog pound early this morning only to view a lot of purple and gold.
This is it, the big one. I don’t have to tell you what my pick is or what I feel. I am like the kids who just can’t wait to perform. This one is televised state wide on Fox stations. The flag ship for Rutherford County sports will be on hand to give the Bulldog angle
1450 AM - Ravenwood vs Smyrna <- Click to Listen LIVE
If you want my last link www.coacht.com will be doing play by play and game-cast. The kick off is slated for 7pm CST. I would say by 9:30 pm tomorrow night we will know the results.
Thanks to all who have followed us and watched this ride take place.
GO BULLDOGS !!!!
That's A Wrap
In closing, for those of you who will attend the cold game tomorrow night I will be in rare form. So just look to the top of the press box I guarantee you can’t miss me.
Special thanks go out to my brother Sam for running the website. He never stops at keeping up with all the articles, emails, web stats you name it, he does it.
God Bless and Take Care
From Behind The Lens.
The Stork
“A man who truly delivers”
Football Stars For Tomorrow - www.storkmontgomery.com
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