football Archives | Candy A. Westbrook

How to Be a True Leader—On and Off the Field

November 5, 2018 by Candy A. Westbrook Leave a Comment

Dear Football Mom,

There is a chance we could be in the state playoffs for the first time in school history. My son is one of the senior captains. Several football players on our team are more basketball players than football players, and basketball is their chosen sport. They are great athletics, valuable to our football team, and have contributed enormously to our winning season. Basketball practice has already started at our school. Our son is sensing an unrest or an uneasiness with these players wanting to get done with football to move on to basketball. That would hurt our chances for state. How does he lead his team and encourage these players who are itching to get on with basketball to hang in through the playoffs?

Dear Reader,

Wow. Great question! How cool is that, to line up in football for a chance to birth a state championship. Congratulations to your son, his team, and his high school on a winning season.

So, what we have here are a few sweet football fellas who have ants in their pants to quit football and hook up with basketball. Sounds like a girlfriend dumping the boyfriend to go with another guy. We call this fickle, bubble-headed, or wobbly. This is tough because if you can’t be all in, especially playing football, you really should be all out.

To be clear, I am a fan of basketball too. So please keep the hate mail to a minimum. Not putting basketball down a-tall. Just promoting sticking with what a body started, committed to, and staying consistent, is all. Some might call it being a man of your word. Others, reliable.

Your son may have to have one of them heart-to-heart talks with the basketball players. Either they want to make football history for the school … or they don’t. It really is that simple. What these boys need is fire in the belly, not fire ants in their pants.

I imagine coach is well aware of this tiny infraction and will do all he can to bring any breach to a successful close one way or the other. But your son and his teammates hold a lot of weight on the team. They may be the only ones who really know what buttons to push to help them fellas choose the higher calling. After all, one day this entire team will graduate, maybe graduate college, and get on with their lives. Do they really want to go down in history as quitters, when they can choose to be part of a team that broke school records? Surely not.

No doubt, a lot of hard work went into this team since last summer, last season, and possibly beyond that. Countless hours of workouts, practice, teamwork, and the coaches strategic game plans. Winning seasons don’t just happen. Do the basketballers really want to chunk it all now?

Honestly, I haven’t a clue on how to help, but your son with his crew will figure out how to spike the ball and stop the clock. What it comes to for them basketball boys, will they seize the day and take the challenge out front. Basketball isn’t dribbling away—it will still be there once football ends.

This possible high school state championship is but a moment in time, a once in a lifetime opportunity. He may remind them just how special and rare championship teams are. The chance of participating on any other sports-related championship team becomes a roll of the dice. It can come down to now or never.

Remember, what you do today will determine how well your tomorrow shines.

Dear Football Mom,

When your own team boos your son, how do you respond to that? My son is a good player. But in the region playoffs, minutes before the fourth quarter ended, he dropped the ball. Yes, fumbled it on the twelve-yard line. Then it was picked up by the other team, and they ran for a touchdown. Time was up. The game was over. We lost.

Dear Reader,

What I can tell you is this, the “boos” were probably for the other team picking it up and running all the way for a touchdown. This does happen, and the sting of it lasts for a while. The booing can even last for what seems like an eternity, and even our sons’ names or numbers are chanted out—and not in a good way. The mudslinging can get downright nasty.

Sometimes, like it or not, our sons may deserve it. Most football players at every level blows-it now and then. Heck, I’ve yelled at my own sons before and I’ve blown it myself a time or two. But I know, it tough sitting in the stands hearing the chatter. Still, it’s how we respond that helps us keep our cool.
Pluck the feathers out from under your skin—you are not a chicken. Football Moms … we have to grow some Teflon skin and wipe it off. Usually, some good ole fashion grit will do just fine for that.

Tackling a Touchy Topic – Gay in Football?

February 24, 2014 by Candy A. Westbrook Leave a Comment

Michael Sam wants us to look at him as a football player, not a gay football player. If that’s true then why did he feel the need to divulge his sexual orientation? He opened the worm can the minute he opened his mouth.

Personally, I don’t want to know anyone’s anythingie when it comes to such private matters. There are certain things that should remain private regardless of gender choice. But gee, let’s shout it from the microphone and get football even more tainted. Come on man, football is the purest of the purely manly sports. Seriously?

It would be like a girls basketball team having one of the boys on the boys’ basketball team shower in the all-girls locker room. It just smears the whole shebang to shreds and mess things up! As a mama, I would not want one of my sons showering with a gay guy. Period. End of story.

Now do not miss-interrupt my stance here. We all know someone who is gay, who has a gay child, or a gay family member, or a gay friend and we’ve all been touched in some form or fashion by this subject matter. I am not saying God does not love these folks. Or, that I think of them as subhuman, far from it!

What I am saying is-this is not the way God intended for the human race to live. I’m going to have to stick to His word. Something that is hardly ever done these days, sticking to God’s word, that is. Although the Duck Dynasty guy stuck to God’s word. Kudos to him, even though that brought on some crazy consequences, however, when you speak God’s truth, in the end His Truth always wins. And, because of their willingness to speak God’s truth, the double D’s are definitely winning these days!

Look, I do believe He loves the person, just not the sin. As in the rest of us, we’ve all sinned and fallen short. We all have. I sure have. He loves us, not our sin. John 8:7 NKJ” He who is without sin among you let him throw a stone at her first.” I don’t want to throw stones. I just want to throw footballs.

The sportscasters say that it took a lot of guts to “come out.” Really? Thatâ€™s how you see it? I believe it would take more guts to suck it up and stay quiet. So what did coming out do? If you look real close, maybe it just relieved his own conscious and hey, the dude is getting more publicity than ever. Interesting, the timing of it all. Right before the NFL draft? Come on you great thinkers out there, what purpose did it really do? It served no one but Mister Sam, himself.

Oh, and for those of you who don’t know God’s word on this, there are several scriptures throughout the bible on the subject. One begins in Leviticus 18:22 NKJ “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman, it is an abomination.”I don’t know, that sounds purdy plain to me. Then again, I just want to throw footballs.

Game On!

August 20, 2013 by Candy A. Westbrook 1 Comment

As you head to the ballpark this year to watch, coach, cheer for your favorite team, including those precious peewee fellers, remember they are just boys, young fellas, not-quite-grown men vying for a piece of the action. Granted, I’m talking mostly about those who are not NFL-ers. This doesn’t necessarily apply to those who get paid to play the greatest game on earth!

However, I wonder, I wonder if we as spectators would shout to the death from the stands if we knew that the next play could end-up costing a child his life. I wonder this? Would we still shout to the top of our lungs, “fight, fight, fight” if we knew that a simple play-in-action would be the last play of a kids life?

The death of De’Antre Turman, age 16 from a simple, routine tackle at Creekside High School in Atlanta last week, has caused me to pause and ponder this thought. What if? What if we knew that a tackle, a field goal, an audible from a quarterback, a touchdown from a wide receiver, what if that play was the last play a player would ever play? Would we still be so hell bent on shouting absurdities and singling out a player for a mistake? Injuries are one thing—death is something altogether different.

There are apparently 76 biblical references to “our days being numbered,” but Psalm 90:12 caught my heart while writing this piece. “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” NKJ

A heart of wisdom. Again, I wonder, are we seeking The King of Kings, The Most High God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus to impart His Wisdom upon us? Or, are we just plain busy, keeping our minds busy, ourselves busy, just busy, busy shallow, empty, hollow busy? Do we seek His direction, His will, His WISDOM for our lives? Or, are we the hamster on a wheel?

D’Antre or Tre Tre as was his nickname, family says he loved football. Thrived on it. I say, what an example that child was to all of us! Find our God-given abilities, our passion and live what we love. Maybe even die for what we love. Our military sure has. Died that is. For the Country they love so dear.

Are you living your passion? Do you know what your God-given talents are? Are you seeking God’s Wisdom? I have a long way to go, but I do see the goal posts and I’m running. Who’s with me? Game on!

The Boys of Fall

September 17, 2012 by Candy A. Westbrook Leave a Comment

I bawled like a blubbering baby when I first heard this song. What a gripping piece of music for all in the football nation. A dear friend of mine said she cried too, and doesn’t “know a hike from a hut!” I think you’d nearly have to be heart-dead without a pulse not to have some emotion shuffling through your core as the lyrics tantalize tidbits of nostalgia. Country crooners can always wet the eyes of the steeliest of hearts; however, Kenny Chesney took it to a whole new level. He encapsulated the purity of the spirit in football with his song, but he seared the soul with its flavor.

I dedicate this post to my fellow classmates of Buckhead Academy, who went 10-0 the first year our school ever had a football team (Go class of ’72!) and to my grandson, who at age 7 is entering his first pee-wee football season. Go Bryson II!!! May the tradition thrive!

Football is steeped in tradition, with passionate players, frenzied fans, and crazy coaches willing to do almost anything, go anywhere, and lay it all out for their teams. The madness surrounding the sport is hard to express in one simple statement. Football is such a menagerie of emotions and lessons learned. These emotions along with their lessons, however, can symbolize how you view life or react to it.

I’ve always believed that the past affects the present. What you do or don’t do, who you hang with or how you seize opportunities, even those of the smallest kind, will affect you in ways that you might have never imagined. High school football can be one of those vehicles that contribute to and characterize who you are at the core. Winning or losing seasons can very well personify a way of life for your furture. It has been said that some of the greater lessons are those when losing. Of course, winning is a lot more fun!

Our Buckhead Bucks literally had nothing. Not even a football field to call their own. My dad and a small crew of two or three, led by Mr. Ed Alsobrooks, mounted lights on poles on a torn-up, rundown field in town, just hours before we kicked off our first game. My mother finished stitching the last sleeve of my cheerleading uniform in the wee hours that Friday morning, so I could proudly wear it to school. We didn’t have a formal pep rally to send our boys off raht-proper-like for that first game, but honey, you’d’ve never known it. We were so late in assembling a football team that we didn’t get registered in time with the state under the ‘independent schools’ sports section. That meant we would not be allowed to compete on the state level for a championship play-off. But who in the world, in that fall of 1971, gave us a gnat’s chance of winning any game?

Understand, we had nothing. But in reality, we had more than nothing! What we did have was the intangible! That undeniable, deep-rooted, pure as the driven snow, emotionally packed, triumphal spirit that cannot be taught, cannot be duplicated, and cannot be produced, no matter how hard any coach anywhere could muster the effort!

Call it lightning in a bottle, magic or fairy tales, it’s the one thing all schools everywhere should experience at least once in their lives. Indeed, football history is loaded with plenty of heroes and teams that beat the odds. But our little school in South Georgia, located down a dusty dirt road, outside of town, smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, nonetheless went down in state history books! Not because of talent, not because of great coaching, and sadly, not because of the cheerleaders, but because of the intangible spirit within the hearts of every member of our student body!

Our itty-bitty school broke a long-standing record, going 10-0 in its inaugural football season. That made us the first football program in Georgia high school history to go undefeated the first year of playing the game! We came home the champions time and time again that special year and the record still stands.

It was a privilege to be part of it all, and I may be the only senior past or present who didn’t want to graduate—but oh honey, what a year! What an awesome tradition. And the legacy is passed on. It spilt over to my sons’ lives as well. Now, my grandson. That little team brought me through some amazing obstacles in life. That never quit, never die attitude strengthened my soul at times when I needed that extra push when all I wanted to do was give up.

Auspicious experiences in life have a way of leaving lasting impressions on one’s psyche, impressions which can supply steadfast tenaciousness as those lessons are passed on to future generations. It’s hard to fight back those butterflies, every time I think of a cheer, a score or the crowd roaring to their feet on that ole field. All I want to do is celebrate with the Buckhead Bucks once more! So, what do I do? I write about football from a mama’s heart who has passed on that winning legacy.

And, to all those football teams of today—dang-straight! Folks do indeed live vicariously through you. I am one of them!

How to Be a True Leader—On and Off the Field

Tackling a Touchy Topic – Gay in Football?

Game On!

The Boys of Fall

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