Sidelines
RICH Miano, the man with the big floppy hat, was looking at a small boy who barely came up to his piko and yelling. Football camp brings out
best in kids, coachesNot bad yelling. Not scoldings. No, not in anger. It was just that Miano was so worked up, so excited. The speech had started out about how people often say that offensive players have better hands than defensive backs. But it ended with an emphatic: "We're the hammer! We're the hitter!"
The small boy seemed to agree. Good move.
It seems that for some people, football season can't come soon enough.
Until then, we have the June Jones Football Camp.
It opened yesterday morning with the young guys, the incoming 5th and 6th graders. Some were still very small. Others were unsure of football techniques. One actually fell over doing a right foot over left stretch. The lessons were very basic.
"Remember," Miano offered at one point, "the ball is not going to hurt you."
Sure it isn't.
Camp kicked off with a "Do It for Coach Jones" talk. In just two years, has June Jones reached "Do It for Coach Jones" status? It appears that the 5th graders think so. They ran and dove and hit the dirt. Many of them had no idea what they were doing. Some stumbled. A few bumbled. One even fumbled. They were being asked to use skills that they didn't have yet. But they worked hard. They were doing it for Coach Jones.
Jones himself was back on the field for the beginning of camp. He looked happy to be there, if still on his way to recovery. He stretched. He twitched. He practiced his golf swing. And with the blink of an eye, he quietly slipped out to attend to more pressing matters. But the kids didn't even seem to notice he was gone. They were busy.
The coaches showed why they're coaches. They cajoled and corrected. They learned names very quickly, even without them written on the front of a helmet. You could hear the high-pitched excitement in offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh's voice all the way across the field. "Hut!" he cried. "Huutttt!" And then, "There we go! Yes! Yes!"
The man loves his work.
You notice that when they're pau with Cavanaugh's lesson, the kids sprint away very fast.
Hustling on, instilled with a new zest for knowledge.
In the second half of the program we learn about defense. What is the most important thing about defense?
Getting a tattoo?
Renegotiating your contract?
Having all charges dropped?
No. Close. But we find out that the most important thing in defense is tackling.
This what they mean when they say back to the basics.
But each time through, the kids get a little better. And in the end, when it's time for fun, a game of recess football caps off the day and brings a little more out of the junior campers. There are great moves and better catches, and even the quietest kid who had trouble with every drill whoops and shakes his "we're No. 1" finger with each touchdown.
You can see the scatback. The pulling guard. The special teams psycho. And a Stanford-Cal play that has everything but a tuba.
And on the first day of camp, the man with the big floppy hat was excited with what he saw.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com