Kellen had his second cross country meet of the season on Friday.  We didn’t go in the morning with the high schoolers …. as neat as it is to be excused from school for a sports event, that unfinished classwork is staring you in the face when you return.  So Kellen and his two 8th grade team mates both decided (or perhaps I should say, their parents decided, and since they are not old enough to drive, they really had no choice but to go along) that I would pick them up from school at lunchtime and drive them to the meet for the afternoon middle school races.

A good plan, really ….. on paper.

None of the boys had eaten since breakfast, so all the moms packed a lunch they could eat really quickly in the car.  They changed clothes, arrived at the meet, and immediately began their warm up runs.

I thought it was incredibly sweet and supportive that so many of the high school kids stayed at the meet to encourage the middle schoolers in their races.  Sort of like our own mini-mentoring plan, where the older kids give advice and words of widsom to the younger ones.  Oh, who am I kidding?  They didn’t want to go back to school either.  Oh, who am I kidding some more?  The bus stayed, so they had no choice.  But they DID choose to stand at the starting line with the middle schoolers, offering advice about the track, and constructive criticism on the competition.  I think that mainly involves making fun of how short everyone else’s shorts are, too.

It was SO hot outside …. 102 according to my car thermometer ….. AFTER it cooled down from sitting in the sun.  We started at 106, but I think 102 was probably closer.  Kellen’s favorite things are the cold, wet rags the coach brings, in a small ice chest.  The kids put them on top of their heads, attach a stretchy hair band over it to hold it in place while it drips cold water down their faces and necks …. then they walk around like little Arab sheiks.  Or, like Arab sheiks would look, if they used pink washcloths as turbans.

There were about 110 athletes running in the 8th grade boys race.  Top 50 would medal, so I knew all three of our boys most likely had a good chance.  I mean, just finish in the first half of the pack, and you’re golden.

Kellen had pretty good form at the beginning, I thought.  He’s not quite got the hang of the jostling elbows and shoving that can go on when so many boys are running together and jockeying for position.  Later, as the pack starts to spread out, he does fine and can use those long legs to pass.  But at the beginning, he’s perhaps a bit more polite than a more assertive runner would be.   He was so hot he wanted to run with the washcloth on his head, but his team mates fortunately talked him out of it.

This is my favorite photo of the day, though, below.  It’s Kellen’s team mate Gavin, looking at Kellen, and I am 100% certain that the exact thought going through his head is, “Dude, you look like a tool.  You took the rag off, but totally left the headband on!!”

All three boys finished in the top half, and medaled, which is exciting.  This is the first season of cross country for all of them, and they’ve done really well so far.  More importanly than medals, of course, is that they are working hard, committed to the team (6 am practice runs in the FREAKING DARK … you have to be committed to do that) improving their personal times, and (I think) having fun.  Although if you ask Kellen, the medals are a pretty important part of it as well.

The boys with their coach, after the race.

Kellen looked a little green when he finished, and immediately started asking if we could leave, which I thought was odd.  He’s not exactly a social butterfly, but he’s usually perfectly content to hang out with his friends.  The bus was stopping to eat on the way home, and Kellen said he didn’t want to join them.  That was actually better for me because I needed to rush home and prepare to welcome eight little girls for a 12-yr old birthday slumber party (photos of that to come)  ……

Kellen was looking greener and greener as we made our way back to the parking lot and got loaded back up into the van.  He immediately turned all the a/c vents to high and pointed them right at his face.  That is never a good sign, and we all know what it portends.  Sure enough, about half a mile from the school, he gave me the, “Mom, I think I might throw up” line …..

Its a good thing there wasn’t a policeman behind me or he’d have arrested me for drunk driving, as quickly as I veered across two lanes of traffic and made my way to a parking lot.   I mean, I’ve only had this van for eight months.  Every now and then a kid will get in it and comment on the “new van” smell.  I don’t think it smells new anymore, but no one had thrown up in it yet, and by golly, I didn’t want to start then.

When finished, Kellen only had three things to say:

1.  “I feel SO much better now!  Can we stop and eat?”

2.  “Hey, someone honked at me while I was puking!”

and,

3.  “Here’s my medal, Mom.  I threw up on it.”

Ahhhhh, kids.  Gotta love ‘em.

Um, shouldn’t there be some other boys lined up with him here?  Maybe on either side of him?  Because looking at this photo, I’m pretty sure he’s fixing to get squashed like a bug.

He’s definitely not the biggest.  Or the strongest.  Or the fastest.  But he is hands down, the cutest.  And while I know every other mother in the stands has the EXACT SAME THOUGHT about her own son, I am the only one on the field with a camera, so I get to claim it with photographic proof.

I’m also glad it was only a scrimmage, and the boys will be allowed to wear actual, real jerseys next time, and not those beat-up practice jerseys.  Because my gosh, you shouldn’t dress handsomeness like this in ragamuffin clothes.  And who knows?  A real jersey might even make him run faster next time.

BUT!  There is one scene, after one of the games, where they’ve lined up all the players and are going down the line — each boy states his name, age, and position.  They’ve got their helmets off, and its a game they won, so they’re all smiling and happy and looking very football-ish …..

then, right before my nephew Landon gives his introduction, in the background, someone, either a big kid, or perhaps even an adult, I can’t really tell from the video, tries to jump over the chain link fence that goes around the field.  He gets his shoe caught in one of the spiky things at the top of the fence, and falls FLAT on his face.  As in …. THUD.  As in …. America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Kellen and I saw it the first time time tonight (yes, I know, two MONTHS after the season is over we finally got our pictures and video ….. apparently “speed” is not this company’s strength) and we literally burst out laughing.  Then laughed some more.  Then hit the back button on the remote and watched it at least five more times, laughing harder and harder each time.

So, yes.  My son is on dvd making several touchdowns, catching two-point conversion passes, and even making an interception, yet the highlight of the video for me, hands down, is that person tripping over the fence.

Obviously I am NOT up for Fan of the Year.  Or Mother of the Year.  Or even Compassionate Person of the Year, considering I practically wet my pants laughing so hard.

Going into last night’s game, we knew we were playing the team ranked last in the league.  Not only had they not won a game all season, they hadn’t SCORED all season.    Coming from a parent whose own son’s team has been “mercy ruled” this year ….. ouch.  I know first hand how frustrating and disappointing that can be.

So while we felt fairly hopeful we would win last night, I was glad at the same time that our coach had some class and didn’t do everything in his power to crush the other team in the ground.   Winning is fun …. there’s no reason to rub your opponent’s nose in it.  (Yeah, we had our noses rubbed once or twice this year, too, and that was NOT my favorite part of the season.)

No surprise, I designated myself team photographer this year.  I walked up and down the sidelines of almost every game, taking as many pictures as I could, not only of my own son, but of all the boys on the team.  I am not — repeat, NOT – any kind of professional sports photographer.  It’s just a hobby that I enjoy.  And if I’m being completely honest, these are night games, played on small local fields, with less-than-stellar lighting conditions.  None of the parents in the stands, with cell phone cameras, or even point-and-shoot digital cameras, have any kind of chance of getting any kind of decent shots.   I’m not exactly set up for Sports Illustrated, but I do have a suitable lens that gives me, at the very least, a better chance than they have, so I don’t mind taking photos of everyone and sharing them.

I’ve gotten enough thank you’s from parents, and requests for the images, that I think people appreciate the gesture.  Do I think the other parents are sitting around, waiting with bated breath, for each night’s images?  No.  Do I think a single person there cares as much as I do about the quality of my shots?  No.  Do I imagine there are folks on the team who haven’t looked at any of the pictures I’ve tried to share?  Sure.   And that’s ok, because from the beginning its been about me, and my enjoyment of photography, and it’s really not any more important than that.

At last week’s game, I had taken about five photos, when the automatic focus on my lens quit working.  Just quit.  I looked down to check and make sure I hadn’t flipped it to manual focus by mistake — nope.  All my settings were correct, nothing was any different, I hadn’t dropped it or jarred it or anything like that.   But, this was the second time this season it had happened.  So I suspected something was wrong with the lens (that I had only purchased four months ago, and was still under warranty) and hoped I could get it repaired or replaced.

Anyway, I returned to the camera shop where I bought it and they agreed the lens was janked and would need to be sent off for repair.  Since last night’s game was the last one I would be able to attend, they offered to lend me a replacement lens so I could still take photos.  Unfortunately, when I went to pick up the lens yesterday, it had already been rented out to someone else.  Day late and dollar short — story of my life.

I started feeling a wee bit of panic.  “But I need that lens!  This is my son’s last game and I neeeeeeeeeeeeed it! What are my other options?!”

Why, hello, camera equipment ….. almost like crack for Kristie.

They offered to rent me a Nikon camera with an identical lens, for half what they would normally charge.  I think they felt a little bad for me, and the customer service there is really good.

I was a little worried about it, since my camera is a Canon.  I know Nikons are good cameras, too, just that I wouldn’t know how to work it.   And while I think a lot of photography, especially sports photography, is quite often the luck of being in the right spot at the right time, I also know that you have to have *some* idea of settings and light conditions and ISO and shutter speeds, etc, in order to make it work.

But really, having no other choice, I took the attitude, “Well, how bad could it be?” and off I went, after a quick, in-store tutorial on the Nikon.

Yeah.

That pretty much sucked.

I took 511 pictures (thank you, to the inventor of digital photography that allows massive quantity like that) and approximately 510 of them are total crap.   The guy at the store put me in aperture mode, which was a mistake.  The shutter speed wasn’t fast enough to keep the images from blurring.   I tried fiddling with the aperture sizes, but nothing worked.  I switched to shutter mode … still crap.  I couldn’t get the shutter button to release quickly ….. and couldn’t find the setting to make sure I was on continuous shooting.  I kept getting this weird display on the back of the camera, and called my friend Kim in Virginia (a Nikon user) in the middle of the game for help.   It was, quite simply, a photographer’s worst nightmare.   I’m sure the Nikon is a great camera ….. I simply had no idea how to work it.  And if it had been any other game of the season, I would have just chalked it up to a learning experience and moved on.

But, it wasn’t any other game of the season.  It was the last game for me to attend.  And it was a game that we not only won, but we won so easily (and remember, that is NOT me being all Braggy McBraggy Pants …. we have lost more than we’ve won this year) that our coach was letting boys play positions they never played before.  Five different boys got to play quarterback, he let two of our linemen run the ball in for touchdowns, we had interceptions, quarterback sacks, and even a blocked punt.    In addition, it was the game where my nephew finally “came back” after an ankle injury and then his burns from falling into the fire at the lake.  He has patiently come to every practice, and stood on the sideline of every game, supporting his team mates.  I have a few great pictures of him carrying water bottles to the other boys, but last night was my chance to finally get some pictures of HIM on the field.  And he had a great game …. he blocked a punt, sacked the QB, made some great tackles, and ran the ball in for a touchdown.  And guess what?  I got none of it.

In a nutshell, it was the one game of the year where I had opportunity to get pretty much every boy on the team doing something great.  And while I am so, so sorry it was at the expense of the other team (who, despite my crossed fingers and best wishing, did NOT score against us either ….) I was hopeful I would get home last night, load the pictures onto my computer, and have great pictures to share with everyone of what was easily our best game of the season.

Um, no.

510 frames of total crap.

And I was so disappointed, that I felt like crying over my computer screen last night.

Why?  No-one cares.  It is not a big deal to anyone but me.

But I was awake at 3 am this morning, with a ball of frustration in the pit of my stomach, lying in bed for an hour wondering if there was any way to salvage the images before just getting up at 4am, going to the computer, and seeing again, that no, there was not.

Why?  No-one else is putting any kind of pressure on me.  Why do I think its so important?

Even more importantly, why I have I just spent 20 minutes composing this blog entry and whining to all of you about it?

I’m just sad.  Our team will never have another game like last night because the season is almost over.  Next year the boys will all move on to school football.  That was my last chance, and through no fault of anyone’s, I missed it.  I tried to rent a lens and make it work …. the guy at the camera store tried to help me …. just lousy timing and bad luck.  But I can’t help but feel like I let the boys down.  They played so well and I would have loved to have captured that.  Especially for the ones who finally, after a long, hard year, had a chance to shine last night.

I know in light of Ft. Hood and Orlando the rain forest and AIDS in Africa, that a few measley football pictures are no big deal.

But still ……

Let me share with you a few of the “could have beens” ……

Our second touchdown run of the evening.  The first touchdown was an interception, caught by one of our linemen, that I missed completely because I couldn’t get the damn shutter button depressed.  While I got this one, you can see why I don’t think it will be on any NFL posters.

Here is my nephew, making his first, and possibly only (he IS a tackle, after all ….) touchdown of the season.  I know my sister will be so happy I captured this moment for him … in all its blurry glory …

This was another great moment.  Kellen’s best friend Chance, who is normally a wide reciever, got to play a few plays at quarterback.  I’m sure these images of those moments will mean a lot to him and his parents …. or they would, if they could even tell this is their son in the photo.

Here’s another one of our boys making a touchdown.  The ref, with the touchdown arms in the back is a nice touch …. too bad not one single part of the photo is in focus….

Here’s my nephew again, in his element, making a great tackle …. yep, this one’s a beauty.  A keeper for sure.

And lastly, Kellen, making his second interception of the entire season.  This one is actually not terribly out of focus, but naturally I was on the opposite side of the field so he’s tiny in the photo ….

I’ll try to negotiate well when ESPN comes calling.  Because Lord knows I can’t ask this team for a reference, with  shots like this.

There is most certainly no reason to do this:

Seriously?  You’ve got one kid fixing to fall on him, and one kid backing up his booty right up in my son’s space.  I’m not sure what constitutes pass interference, but I don’t think this is it.  It WAS enough, however to keep him from catching the ball, which I guess is sort of the point. 

But we’ve only got a few games left this season, and I’d really love to get just one quality, focused, awesome photo of my son catching the ball.  So could you back up just a little?  Give him some space??  I mean, come on, give a kid a chance, would you?

Here he is, catching a pass to make a two-point conversion in tonight’s game:

It’s really a shame not all boys are as lucky, to have a parent like me, to take such awesome photos of their accomplishments. Truly, have you ever seen such wonderful photography skills????

No, I didn’t think so.

On second thought, that might be my son. Or it might not. It’s so blurry, who would know?

Can anyone even tell??

No, I didn’t think so.

The middle of summer, we spent our time sitting and watching this:

And now, can you guess how we’re going to spend our time the END of this summer?

(this was that jumping-and-rolling-over-your-teammate exercise, which as far as I’m concerned, they all looked a little like Tuck and Roll from the Bug’s Life movie, if you ask me. Kellen is in the red shirt, and I can’t decide if he’s getting the hang of diving over his friend, or if he’s having a seizure.)

I’m not complaining, I’m really not. Kellen is fit and healthy and happy and loves it. And to be completely truthful, I was born and raised in Oklahoma, where football reigns, and there is no better Friday night past-time. It’s the sport I love most … its the one sport where I actually understand all the rules. Quite frankly, I’m GLAD he’s finally playing on a team, even if it means we do have to take a break from his beloved soccer. Football feels right ….. it feels like home.

Of course, I’m also fairly certain after all these months of sitting and watching my son play sports, although HE will be in great shape, I will probably acquire a wretched case of permanent chair-butt, and my END will have to be explained on my headstone some day …. as in, “Here lies Big-Butt Kristie Escoe, who needed two spaces in the graveyard just to fit her rear end ….. but by golly, she never missed a game.”

Although … wait. What’s that? Do you see?

Do you see the one thing that might get me through the rest of this summer and fall ???? Ahhhhhhhhh, that’s why I love my hometown. At least it will be easy to get my DDP fix while he’s at practice.