February 8, 2020

Today did not have a lot going on for Hubby and I.  That is unless you count sitting in a stadium watching our grandsons play lacrosse.  G-man, who is 15, is on the the JV team.  Older brother, B, is a captain on the varsity squad.  G is a freshman, B is a senior.  There is, also, Z grandson who had his ACL damaged last fall playing football.  Z plays lacrosse, too, but is out this season as he recuperates form his injury and surgery.

This morning was overcast with a 9 mph wind coming across the field.  Temperature was about 50℉, 10℃.  Hubby and I dressed warm and I took the wool blanket cause I did not want to get chilled.  I had awakened with a headache and knew getting chilled could cause it to go into a migraine.  Sure, there were brave folks in shorts and no jackets.  Good for them.  We were going to be on the bleachers for 4 hours.  I felt the only statement I was making was to the two grandsons.  We are here for you always.

JV game started at 11 AM.  G-man was playing offense.  It was a pretty rough and tumble game.  At one point in the game there was another tussle for the ball.  If you have never watched a lacrosse game and saw what I described as a tussle you just might think what the heck.  A battle is possibly a better way to describe a loose ball. 

The battle involves players all attempting to get to the ball on the ground.  No hands can touch the ball.  The ball can be kicked.  The sticks are 3.5 ft to 6 ft long.  The sticks are the only other thing that can touch the ball.  Those same sticks can be used on the other players as well.  Shoving and pushing are part of the game.  There are rules as to how, where on the body and when the pushing, shoving and hitting with the sticks can be done without penalty.  Well, no penalty other than bruises, scratches and general pain for the players the following hours/days.  You can see an example here.

Back to G-man's game.  G-man is in the middle of fighting for the ball.  Other players come flying in from all sides.  Someone gets the ball and a whistle sounds.  Two players are down and not getting up quickly.  One player from each team.  One is G-man.  The other player is helped up and is moving slowly.  The Round Rock Dragon trainer is now at G-man's side.  In a short time G-man is able to get up and move off the field.  A replacement is sent in for G-man and play resumes.  We can see G-man is being checked for a concussion.  By halftime it is determined he is okay.  He returns to play all of the second half without further injury.  Game ends Dragons 1, Alamo Heights I do not remember but something like 9 or 11. 

Next game started at 1 PM.  There is close to a 30 minute warm up that we grandparents need to watch.  It is B's senior year.  B is the grandson that last year about this time had his chin broken and was out for the rest of the season.  He is back and doing very good this year.  Even has a small college watching his work.  I digress.  The varsity game starts.  The Dragons are on fire, no pun intended.  At the end of the first quarter they are up 7 - 0.  B is doing an outstanding job on defense.  Almost to the half and B takes a nasty hit from another player falling against the back of his right leg.  He goes down and is not getting up quickly at all.  Another whistle.  B manages to get off the field.  A replacement is sent in and the game continues. 

B's mom is near us.  She is using her long range camera lens to see what is going on with B and the trainer.  B's dad, our son, is spotter and cannot go to check the situation till half time.  The trainer is working on B's leg and icing.  Shortly, he has B begin to make movements.  The movements continue and B stands.  Move stretching movements.  Halftime arrives and dad checks out the boy.  Sore but not in pain as Z was after the ACL injury.  That is good.  But B does not return to the game.  Dragons increase the lead to 10 before the other team scores.  Then the other team begins scoring.  We know the team is missing B's talents.  Dragons hold on the the lead increasing for a final score of 12 - 5.

All the while through both games I yelled about 3 times.  Cause I still have very little voice.  With these boys and this very physical game I am not sure if my old heart can take another 4 years of lacrosse. 

Ya'll take care and stay off the lacrosse fields, please.

Janice