This'll cure your fumble-itis

A high school coach in East Texas is employing a rather unique way to cure his team of fumble-itis after the squad dropped the ball five times in their opening game.

http://www.itemonline.com/sports/local_story_250001728.html?keyword=topstory

Neat stuff here.

 

Good high school sports story. That's the kind of stuff to look for.

 

It's actually the paper where I was AME for about four years.

 

Cool story, though the "baby the ball" tactic doesn't seem particularly original.

 

As John Heisman said, holding a football and addressing his team, "Better to die young boy than to fumble this.''

 

They did this in The Program

 

Nick Saban (I seem to be posting a lot about him these days) gave Alley Broussard, then a freshman TB, the "baby" treatment in 2003 after he fumbled twice late in a blowout LSU victory at Arizona.

 

I hear that HS also encourages kids to lay down one the middle stripe in traffic.

 

This is an old ritual, but a good one. Humbling, but a smart mental thing.

 

I like it. But it'd be a lot better if they superglued it to their hands.

Just kidding. Nice work by the coach. A team that I covered could have used this a couple of years ago. Player of the year fumbled three times in a state playoff.

 

This is a very old, and effective, technique. In "Instant Replay," Jerry Kramer writes about Vince Lombardi having rookie Travis Williams cart the ball wherever he went -- including cradling it as he slept -- to solve his fumbling problems. It worked well enough for Williams to have one of the most electrifying seasons for a kick returner ever, the 1967 Super Bowl season.

Unfortunately, there was no equivalent to solve all the other personal problems Williams had after he retired.

 

My high school coach made me do the same thing.

That was 31 years ago.