Coach Charles Tadlock

Very sad to see that Coach Charles Tadlock has died. He was my first football coach, in seventh grade at Charleston, Arkansas Junior High. I remember that he was quite a large man, and as a kid who barely weighed 100 pounds in 7th grade he was intimidating. But over the next few years I came to admire him and…I liked him.  (Picture above borrowed from a facebook page. All rights to the photographer.)

Coach Tadlock could be tough but I always found him fair. The thing I remember most is that he wanted you to do your best, but if you tried your best and it wasn’t good enough, he recognized it and didn’t hold you accountable for not being able to do the miraculous. 

I remember one particular game. I was playing safety on defense and the opposing team had a wide receiver who was something like six feet, nine, a good foot taller than me, with arms to match. This guy caught three touchdown passes right over me that night. I was so upset, so angry. I remember coming off the field nearly in tears and sitting on the bench with my head in my hands. No one would talk to me, not out of meanness but because they were all just as young as I was and didn’t know what to say.

Coach Tadlock approached. He patted me on the shoulder pads and said, “just keep doing your best. That’s all you can do.” There was no anger or recrimination in his voice. I’ve remembered that moment for fifty years. 

I remember, too, a much funnier moment. We were playing a team from Oklahoma. Pacola, I think. They were driving toward a touchdown. I was playing safety. I intercepted a ball just before the endzone and gave us back the ball. This time, my teammates knew just what to do. They all cheered and pounded me on the back. 

After the celebration was over and I was sitting on the bench, Coach Tadlock came over to me. He was smiling and slapped me on the shoulder pads. Then he leaned in, and in a very quiet voice that no one else could hear, he said: “you know you were out of position, don’t you?”

Indeed, I had been. The receiver had beat me and their quarterback underthrew him and hit me right in the chest. It was a colossal piece of luck on my part. But the kindness of coach there, knowing what I’d done wrong and wanting to teach me, but not to correct me in front of all my peers and take away that moment of joy. 

I’m sorry for the loss of this good man, and for his family who will now have to bear his absence. He will be remembered by many. 

  

Death by Misadventure

The LSU football team lost a hard fought game against Alabama this weekend. That’s not my story. Sometime later, according to a radio report that I heard this morning, an LSU fan phoned an Alabama fan of his acquaintance and an argument ensued. Said LSU fan then drove over to the Alabama fan’s house, apparently taking his wife along, and a fist fight followed.

At some point, according to the radio, the LSU fan pulled a gun. But it so happened that the Alabama fan also had a weapon, a shotgun, which tends to trump other cartridge weapons at close range. The LSU fan and his wife are now dead. Radio announcer announced that “alcohol was apparently involved.”

My first thought was that the Darwin Awards had claimed two more. Stupidity will weed itself out (though I don’t see nature doing the job very quickly). My second thought was a touch of guilt at my first thought. Hello! Human beings dead here. Maybe I should have more compassion. Though I seem to be having a hard time working it up. What compassion I feel is for the poor families of those involved, not only for the dead ones but the relatives of the fan who did the killing. They must be going through hell because someone couldn’t hold their liquor. A sad day for them.

Come on people! Get a little perspective. It’s a football game for crying out loud. The sun will come up tomorrow for you.

If you let it.

And now for a song with some lyrics appropriate to that story, as well as to honor our vets on this day of remembrance. It's by Saxon and is called Broken Heroes.

Tigers, Razorbacks and Saints, Oh My

I’m excited. Football season is here again. College games started this past weekend. The pro season begins officially tonight with the opening game between last year’s Super Bowl champs, the Indianapolis Colts, and our own New Orleans Saints. I like the Colts. I respect Tony Dungee and Peyton Manning. I hope we kick their ass.

I actually prefer college football to the pro game. There seems to be more sheer enthusiasm for the game among college players, many of whom will not be going on to sign NFL contracts and do endorsements. They are amateurs in the sense that they are playing for the love of the game. College games are often more exciting to me, but I certainly do watch the pros as well.

As for teams that I follow? The Arkansas Razorbacks is my number one team. I grew up in Arkansas and the Razorbacks might as well be the only team in the state. I root for the New Orleans Saints, although there have been times in the past when I was so disgusted with them that I wouldn’t even watch them. Before I moved to the New Orleans area I rooted for, in order, the Oakland Raiders, the Green Bay Packers, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I tend to root for the LSU Tigers, unless they play Arkansas.

Is football over hyped and often full of showboating athletes? Yes. Is football a rather silly pastime in an age when we have many social, political and global problems? Yes. I certainly get irritated when there’s an hour’s worth of nonsense on TV before the game even begins. I get angry when I see some athlete spouting crap as if he’s God’s gift to humanity. But when the game begins. When the teams take the field and I hear that first pop of leather as foot meets football, I’m there. I’m ready. I love the game itself. Take away the hype. Take away the posturing. Take away the unsportsmanlike taunts and the silly end zone antics and you have something worthwhile. Maybe it’s not important in the global scheme of things, but it serves a need. At least for me.

Go Razorbacks! Go Saints! Go football!

Unhappy Days

I heard on the radio this morning that today, statistically, is the unhappiest day of the year. I didn't realize until then that there were so many Saints fans in the world. Yes, the Saint's magical season spilled right out of the cauldron yesterday. The Saints outplayed Chicago in the early part of the game, but several horrible calls by the referees stymied the Saints and let Chicago get a couple of field goals. In the second half we came back, but the Bears played a great game in that half, especially the defense, and in the end we couldn't get it done. Drew Brees didn't have his best game, but it was truly a team loss. The offensive line couldn't keep the Bears off of Brees and he seldom had any time to throw. Deuce hardly got to carry the ball, but when you're down from the beginning in the score it makes it hard to establish a running game. And while the defense played heroically along the line in the first half under rough field position conditions, they were unable to get much pressure on Rex Grossman, and they finally wore down in the fourth quarter and the Bears salted it away. Fred Thomas, one of our cornerbacks, will probably get a lot of blame, and he didn't have a great game, but to place the loss at his feet would be an absolute mistake. As I said, it was a team loss. The one highlight for us was Reggie Bush. But for the first time in many a year I believe we will be going into the new season with a new outlook, and with new hope. Go Saints!