They have a rock. Just a rock. Was a door stop & paper weight for yrs. They touch it before games. Has no power. It’s tradition. Belief. In baseball I’d watch people wear dirty socks. Touch each each toe with bat. Believed brought good luck. It’s a mind trick. You believe it. So it works. It’s a comfort. Get a second pillow. Hug it when you go to sleep. It will help keep you safe & calm in the storm. You must calm your mind. Get it to produce good chemicals not bad. Watching football calms me. I’m an Army fan. But I watch all good games. Love good teams. I like to watch the movements. The mistakes. Successes. Pick any sports you like. I played football; baseball; track; some basketball, & raced cars. Boxed; wrestled; martial arts. These things interest me. Not all are fun to watch. American football is fun to watch. As an adult I also played Rugby. Don’t play either. Especially rugby. I also used to rope cows & such. That is deadly. Never do it. A lot of white males have risk taker gene. Makes them do crazy stuff. I’ve got it. I have constant urges to do crazy stuff. I don’t act in it anymore. So I’m watching Clemson vs Georgia Tech. Tech was good long time ago. Good school. Bad at football now. So it’s hard to tell how good Clemson is. It would be like me fighting a 180 lb man. He’d look like a child in front of me. You wouldn’t learn much. But you can watch the training. The skill. When Clemson is passing; they have a pocket QB. He stands back. They snap ball. He steps back. Tall; he sees over line. If is a passing play his line steps back into a “u” like pattern. That I to create a pocket. They will close ranks as they fall back. They are trapping attackers in front of them; or forcing them around. If they try to go around; the OL engages & pushes them outwards. That’s to give the QB 3 secs. If you can do your job in football for 3 secs at a time, your good. I’ve knocked people out faster than that. A lot can happen in three seconds. Now. If it’s a run play they stand up as a line & either hold, or push forward. Usually push forward. The two opening a hole push outward to either side. At times they try to create more than one. As a back you sort of dance left or right; then explode forward. I could out sprint most black dudes; I care out like a rocket. Then I was huge. So it’s like a big cat just burst up between you. On defense they use different strategies also. I liked secondary. Usually I shut down the best receiver. At the snap I’d spring up & try to knock him backwards or down. That delayed his take off. Sometimes I just kept knocking him down early to show he’s never get it. Later I’d knock him backwards then run to cut off s pass. Help tackle a runner. If they could get loose I’d stay on them. If you threw then the ball id intercept or deflect it. Rarely did someone catch one. I’d tell people you’d might as well go watch. Your not playing today. That’s mind games. We talk endless trash. Lots of cussing. You try to get in their head. Mostly on defense I’d watch the ball. As soon as it moved I sprang. I never encountered an offensive lineman who could get up in time. But I never played college. So those guys on TV are at least as good as I was. Each level has more talent. I was the big fish in a little pond. Watch Clemson spring up on D. On some plays you see multiple players shoot the gap. Then just hold. They are ready to stop a run, or try to knock down a pass. When you throw a ball; you drip it toward their legs if they are inside their man. Sometimes you gun it to their side. I used to throw so hard in the first 20 yards that it would bend back your fingers. Leave tiny cross bruises on your torso. This encouraged my receivers to learn to catch correctly. It was less painful to catch it than not. Especially if you caught it correctly. I’d put a tight spin on it. This helped it cut thru could higher winds. Also made pics hard. If I was a receiver I sprinted. Slowed to let d bump into me. Then I’d sprint. The ball would fall in front of me. I’d just grab & jet. No one would be able to close on me if I had a cushion & was already at full speed. Sprinters take off fast. Some close fast. That was me. Closed fast. Kept speeding up. If you want to see fast wide receivers who catch well; watch Alabama. They had the best 3-4 last yr. they have the best 2-3 this yr. i can’t figure it out. The top 15 classes should be very similar. The difference between #1 & #15 class should be about one good player. In football a lot of these players never pan out. So the 15 class may turn out better than the 1. That comes down to the players dedication & the coaching. Somehow Oh St; Alabama; Georgia, & LSU turn out the most high level draft picks. So not only do they recruit well, they develop the talent. They say Alabama does the best job. They’ve won like 4 titles in 10 yrs or so. So that makes sense. Players are drafted high because NFL teams believe they are either ready to play at a good level; or have undeveloped talent (that means they could be a bust). A five star recruit means he’s ready to be a starter on any team right out of high school day one. On defense I just mostly crushed & chased the QB. Say “one mississippi”. By then I’d probably be hitting the QB or he’d be running for his life. Not to be mean. But most never made it. You’d be better off just falling down. I’d try to get guys to help me. I’d pick the QB up; start scraping the ball out with one hand. The guy who shifted & ran behind me could help look for the ball if it fell. No matter how good you are; we made it hard. Our balls do crazy crap when they fall on the ground. They never wanted to kick to me. As I ran to the ball I’d want to catch it off the bounce. It’s not a basketball. It would hit a rough spot our something, & spring the wrong way. I’d go running right past it full speed. Oh well. I’d literally fall down trying to stop. You feel stupid. Hey; in baseball I’ve ran into fences. Jumped up & fell over fences. I’ve jumped over fences. I’ve ran over other players. I’ve looked down & the pitcher was laying on the ground. People would say mine. You might as well just move. Sometimes they threw to one WR & I’d cut it off. Once it got going I couldn’t stop myself. The coaches would yell at me. Cuss at me. That’s just some basic American football. It occurred to me you may think I played a sport we called soccer. That was not around really in America till later. Even now it’s a sport most don’t watch. I’m not putting it down. I’ve watched. Lots of skill. I got out & learned to play. We just like our sports. If you ever watch American football you’ll probably like it. Watch the big teams. Alabama has won the most titles. They started winning them way back in like the 1950’s. They are the best coached. They get hurt by loosing so many underclassmen to the draft every yr. this gives other schools like Clemson this yr; & LSU last a more experienced team. Very important. My favorite teams are Army & Purdue due to Tyler Trent. Boiler Up Tyler. I’ll see you one day. I’m going to hug you brother. Go Army. Beat Navy. Oh. For Christians all Christians have the same Father. God. So we see each other as brothers & sisters. I forget many of you are in other lands. That’s OK. Most of our ancestors came from other lands.