I love football. I enjoy watching nearly all sports, but I prefer above all others are track and football.
There are many wonderful things about football ? the beauty of a perfectly thrown spiral, the teamwork and athleticism that are required to break a long touchdown run, the adrenaline shot from watching a dazzling kickoff return or a clean, solid hit that pops the ball loose. There are negative things as well ? the injuries that result from the physical demands of the game, the tendency of players and coaches to go to such extremes as steroid use and dirty play and. lately, the showboating and general poor sportsmanship that seem to have taken over the sport on many levels.
I don?t watch that much pro football any more and the last few of those negatives are the primary reason. I?m tired of watching jerks who run off at the mouth as well or better than they run with the ball. I?m sick of players posturing instead of playing.
But I still love football itself. I love to play it in my gimpy way and I love to watch it when it?s played the way it should be.
Nineman Football was new to me when I got to Sweet Home and heard about the local team, the East Linn Loggers. In fact, I first read about the Loggers in The New Era just like most of you. What was this ? another adult league in which faded, out-of-shape ex-high school athletes tried to regain the glory of their youth (like some adult softball leagues I?ve covered)? Were these guys semi-pros ? the ones that didn?t make it into college or into the Arena Football League?
I guess I wasn?t expecting much, especially since I?d heard the Loggers had gone winless and scoreless last year in their first season together.
After coming aboard at the newspaper, I ran over to the Boys and Girls Club one day to snap a photo of the team as the Loggers got ready for their first game. They seemed like decent enough guys. After meeting them, I kind of hoped they?d do better this year.
Then I spent two consecutive Saturday standing in pouring rain on a muddy sideline, watching the Loggers play football.
I love this team. This is football played the right way.
These guys are not the kind of athletes you see in the pros. They probably wouldn?t even get on at the University of Oregon or Oregon State. But who cares?
The thing that struck me as I watched the first game was that these guys really cared about football. They were there, paying hundreds of dollars each for equipment and fees, to play a minimum of seven games ?because they wanted to play.
They wanted to win, too. That was clear from the intensity on the sideline.
There wasn?t strutting and trashtalking. There were no chest bumps and jersey number demonstrations.
There were just 25 mostly young men who were determined to have fun playing football ? and win.
Despite less-than-ideal conditions that have produced an inordinate number of fumbles, the formerly winless Loggers are 2-0. They?ve beaten teams from Albany and Eugene, teams of young men who are just as determined and who play in as sportsman-like manner as the Loggers.
Last Saturday, as I stood on the sideline, I was particularly struck by the sportsmanship. The game was tough for both teams. Offensive guard Bob Teter, the Loggers? only player with four-year college experience, got his leg broken on the first play when teammate Trase Privratsky and a defensive lineman fell on him.
Then, in the second half, two more ambulances had to be called after another Loggers offensive lineman, Chris Ropp, suffered what turned out to be a mild concussion. And, on the same play, a Eugene Firebirds player suffered what everyone thought was a broken leg. (Turned out, it was just a very bad bruise.)
While medics and team officials ministered to the injured players ? and the game was delayed for 35 minutes ?players on both teams hovered over the injured and talked to each other. There was no badmouthing the other team, just grim determination to keep going.
Then, on the last two plays of the game, the Firebirds? quarterback Dayton Edwards, who had played a great game losing 18-6, got sacked and took a hard hit to his ribs. He started hyperventilating as the members of the two teams gathered for a group prayer (which is how all local Nineman Football League games end, I?m told). Loggers defensive back Marco Calvo, who was nearby, walked over and put his arm around Edwards, who clearly was not doing well, staying with him until the prayer ended and Firebirds officials and teammates realized what was happening and took over.
As I walked out of Husky Stadium Saturday, into the parking lot, I saw a familiar face peering through the rain at the players trailing toward the locker room behind me. It was Bob Teter, in the back seat, fresh from the hospital with his leg in a cast and his wife behind the wheel. They?d rushed back so Bob could see how his teammates fared in the game.
It?s great to watch a football game where players are hitting each other hard and clean (for the most part), but still can throw their arms over each other?s shoulders in the end and congratulate each other for a job well done or ask if the other is all right.
Sound sappy? But isn?t that really what sports should be about?
Loggers coach Jesse Garcia Sr. thinks so.
?We?re about God, family, country and community. That?s our thing,? he said. ?We don?t want a bunch of punks. We?re about good sportsmanship, camaraderie, being a positive image.?
Garcia, who has two sons playing on the Loggers, said the league?s goal is to get back to ?old-time football, where it?s all about the team and the fans ? not what I?m getting out of this.
?We want Grandpa, Grandma ? all the way down to the baby, to be able to watch without saying ?What was that??? he said, referring to some of the antics one sees on TV.
He noted that the traditional values being emphasized are one reason why most teams in the National Nineman Football League hail from smaller towns.
?These are home town boys who love to play the game. It?s not a scam and not a scheme,? he said. ?Where do you build stuff like this? In smaller communities, tight-knit, where the values are God, family, country and community.?
Garcia is optimistic that interest in Nineman football will increase. The crowds at Husky Stadium have been very decent, given the foul weather ? averaging about 120 over the first two weeks. There?s plenty of room for more fans.
?The crowds will grow as people realize that this is the real thing,? he predicted. ?That?s why it succeeds and that?s why we?ll pick up the fan base.
?We?re not about (Cadillac) Escalades or (Lincoln) Navigators or free-agency or $50 million contracts. It?s not all about football. Football?s the bonus.?
So, jaded football fans, how?s that sound?
If you?d like yourself or your kid to see healthy, All-American football played hard but sportsmanlike, the 2-0 Loggers play at 8 p.m. Saturday against the top-ranked Nineman team in the nation, the Oregon Outlaws, at Veneta. After a game the following week in Monroe, they will be back in Husky Stadium at 3:30 p.m. on May 14. Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and children 6-12, and free for children under 6.
Keep an eye on this newspaper or visit http://www.nineman.com to find out about the Loggers and other Nineman teams in the area.
If you miss out on this, it?s your loss.