Friday Night Football Farewell

I've officially made it through my first season of high school football as an assistant principal. Friday night might be misleading since two of the games were on Thursday night. From August 31 to November 15, I've attended ten football games, missing only one. Dave has been on the sidelines with me for most of the games.

Some highlights from the season.

• At the first game, I held a fellow AP's precious daughter, Addison, for a quarter or so.
• At the Richland game, I almost got hit in the head with a ball when the kicker was warming up and I was standing way too close to the practice net.
• At that same game, I had the opportunity to discuss why a girl's skirt was too short with her and explain to her that there may not be a dress code for football games, but that there is a dress code for life and that wearing a skirt that short is not such a good idea with photographers, football players, and various other people are standing on the sidelines beneath you
• At a game in Keller, I spent a half in the elevated stands with students. I was educated as to why a boy was carrying a bottle of pancake syrup, and I even sniffed the bottle of syrup to ensure it's contents were indeed syrup and not another liquid of a similar color. (When a lineman tackles an opponent, he mashes him flat like a pancake. The students were bringing the syrup to top off the many pancakes they hoped to see that night.)
• At a second game in Keller, I spent the halftime show counting the number of band students wearing "high-water" uniforms. I noticed that one of our band students wears a long skirt instead of the traditional pants.
• At the Grapevine game, I stood sentinel during the third quarter keeping our kids on one side of the stadium and GHS kids on the other side. There were many creative reasons why kids just had to get to the other side.
• I had the opportunity to spend two nights at the Fifth Quarter following the football game supervising students while they danced, ate, and hung out. I got home at 1:43 following one of these.
• I learned that threatening a student with "I'll escort you out of the stadium and you won't return tonight," is a pretty good way to get a kid to do what you need him to do.
• I had a conversation with our boys' spirit group about what a t-shirt with "I (recycle symbol) Girls" could possibly mean.

And at the final game, our first round of the playoffs, I got the chance to stand on the sidelines of Texas Stadium. I intended to take my camera, but I forgot it. Thankfully, a coworker snapped this picture with his camera phone.
I don't think I had the opportunity to learn more about the game of football. I have to leave my football lessons (like when is the call going to be a block in the back) for college football on Saturdays. Who has time to watch the game when you're watching kids in the stands?

Bring on basketball season! (I hear it's even more fun to police. Goody!)