Farmington Football Turns It Around
If you believe what you see driving down Main Street, Santa Claus cares about your car.
He wants you to get a car wash, get your windows replaced and, how thoughtful, he wants you to stay warm by buying a keyless ignition.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Festivus, a celebration of the holidays that's anti-commercialization.
Festivus, of course, was made popular by the hilarious Seinfeld episode, "The Strike."
It features the Airing of Grievances, an aluminum pole and the Feats of Strength.
Speaking of grievances, some in the Scorpions program had some with me after I wrote this riddle early in the year: "What's harder to solve than a Rubik's Cube, eroding as fast as the Gulf Coast shoreline and as dormant as a hibernating black bear?"
The answer, of course, was the Farmington football team.
I argued that FHS should do better than two wins a year. They did.
I thought it was a fair argument to make at the time (Sept. 7), but some people disagreed. Looking back, they were right in some ways. Here's the rest of what I wrote then. You can check out my story about Farmington's football revival in Wednesday's paper.
*****
"Yes, that assessment is a touch harsh. The Scorpions will have a winning season before Donald Trump will wear a good hairpiece or people will realize Oprah is not that entertaining.
But all three seem a long way from happening.
The so-called Green Machine carries ironic undertones. Pieces are falling off the Scorps faster than local
companies can lay off oil workers.
Several key players are injured, including quarterback Daniel Lacey and center/nose tackle Colton Curry.
Tyler Hough and his teammates' efforts Saturday masked plenty.
They lost to West Mesa 20-14, but had a chance to score late and somehow prevented a blowout.
Asked to assess the progress of his team, coach Gary Bradley said the players' attitudes and approach are much better.
But blocking and tackling? We've got a long way to go, he said.
Hired last year to turn around the Farmington football program, Bradley's a long way from finding solutions, "but we sure as hell don't feel sorry for ourselves," he said before the season.
Farmington's last competitive decade ended in 1998.
Ah, 1998. Back when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit 70 and 66 home runs to break a 37-year-old record -- and most people thought they did it with their God-given talent.
Back when President Bill Clinton denied and later admitted to a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Back when unemployment only reached 4.3 percent, the lowest level since the 60s.
The Scorpions finished 7-3 that year. An average season at the time. FHS had at least eight wins in five of the previous nine years.
Then came the worst season in FHS history. The Scorps finished 2-8.
They rebounded for two winning seasons, including 9-3 in 2001 -- their last winning record -- but paid too much attention to Prince's hit song: "Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999."
They repeated 2-8 in 2001 and 2008 and went 18-29 in between.
It could be worse: the Pittsburgh Pirates are one loss away from their 17th consecutive losing season.
Farmington, thanks to a 5-5 record in 2004, likely will reach five this year.
As bad as the Oakland Raiders have been under Al Davis, they made the Super Bowl in 2002.
The Detroit Lions may have finished 0-16 last season, but Barry Sanders retired. In 1999. Recent enough that Lions fans remember the most electrifying running back in the history of the NFL.
It's been 17 years since Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla spearheaded the last successful Pirates team.
It hasn't been that long for FHS. Gary Bradley seems like a patient and forbearing coach. The FHS administration is more competent and have cared more about success than the Pirates' ownership and decision makers over the past decade and change.
There's no reason for FHS to lose eight games in a season. We're not talking about a school devoid of athletic talent. It's been years since the baseball team didn't make it to the state semifinals.
FHS football finished 10-0 in 1952 and won the state championship.
But the team will languish as long as the current culture stays.
The one where parking spots still were available within 20 yards of the Hutchison Stadium entrance 20 minutes before the home opener Saturday.
The one where the varsity roster is 33 players deep.
If 10 get hurt, they're down to 11 for each side of the ball and a backup. (Many play both ways, of course.)
Bradley is the opposite of Tiger Woods, at least publicly. He doesn't get excited when talking about the state of his team. He doesn't leak criticism or negative body language out of frustration, which is harder to avoid than you might think.
Farmington is capable of hiring a competent coach, and Bradley no doubt fits that description. But unless he can get more players, bigger players and better players, the Scorpions are going to keep on losing until they're the Pirates.
Baseball's popularity makes it tough, but that comes down to generating interest at a young age. Farmington's youth and junior high teams must get better if the high school team wants back-to-back winning seasons any time in the next decade.
They will have to compete with baseball to do that.
Right now, in Farmington, that's like guarding Michael Jordan as he takes a game-winning shot. You may get a hand in his face, but there's not much you can do."
*****
Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher
He wants you to get a car wash, get your windows replaced and, how thoughtful, he wants you to stay warm by buying a keyless ignition.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Festivus, a celebration of the holidays that's anti-commercialization.
Festivus, of course, was made popular by the hilarious Seinfeld episode, "The Strike."
It features the Airing of Grievances, an aluminum pole and the Feats of Strength.
Speaking of grievances, some in the Scorpions program had some with me after I wrote this riddle early in the year: "What's harder to solve than a Rubik's Cube, eroding as fast as the Gulf Coast shoreline and as dormant as a hibernating black bear?"
The answer, of course, was the Farmington football team.
I argued that FHS should do better than two wins a year. They did.
I thought it was a fair argument to make at the time (Sept. 7), but some people disagreed. Looking back, they were right in some ways. Here's the rest of what I wrote then. You can check out my story about Farmington's football revival in Wednesday's paper.
*****
"Yes, that assessment is a touch harsh. The Scorpions will have a winning season before Donald Trump will wear a good hairpiece or people will realize Oprah is not that entertaining.
But all three seem a long way from happening.
The so-called Green Machine carries ironic undertones. Pieces are falling off the Scorps faster than local
companies can lay off oil workers.
Several key players are injured, including quarterback Daniel Lacey and center/nose tackle Colton Curry.
Tyler Hough and his teammates' efforts Saturday masked plenty.
They lost to West Mesa 20-14, but had a chance to score late and somehow prevented a blowout.
Asked to assess the progress of his team, coach Gary Bradley said the players' attitudes and approach are much better.
But blocking and tackling? We've got a long way to go, he said.
Hired last year to turn around the Farmington football program, Bradley's a long way from finding solutions, "but we sure as hell don't feel sorry for ourselves," he said before the season.
Farmington's last competitive decade ended in 1998.
Ah, 1998. Back when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit 70 and 66 home runs to break a 37-year-old record -- and most people thought they did it with their God-given talent.
Back when President Bill Clinton denied and later admitted to a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Back when unemployment only reached 4.3 percent, the lowest level since the 60s.
The Scorpions finished 7-3 that year. An average season at the time. FHS had at least eight wins in five of the previous nine years.
Then came the worst season in FHS history. The Scorps finished 2-8.
They rebounded for two winning seasons, including 9-3 in 2001 -- their last winning record -- but paid too much attention to Prince's hit song: "Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999."
They repeated 2-8 in 2001 and 2008 and went 18-29 in between.
It could be worse: the Pittsburgh Pirates are one loss away from their 17th consecutive losing season.
Farmington, thanks to a 5-5 record in 2004, likely will reach five this year.
As bad as the Oakland Raiders have been under Al Davis, they made the Super Bowl in 2002.
The Detroit Lions may have finished 0-16 last season, but Barry Sanders retired. In 1999. Recent enough that Lions fans remember the most electrifying running back in the history of the NFL.
It's been 17 years since Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla spearheaded the last successful Pirates team.
It hasn't been that long for FHS. Gary Bradley seems like a patient and forbearing coach. The FHS administration is more competent and have cared more about success than the Pirates' ownership and decision makers over the past decade and change.
There's no reason for FHS to lose eight games in a season. We're not talking about a school devoid of athletic talent. It's been years since the baseball team didn't make it to the state semifinals.
FHS football finished 10-0 in 1952 and won the state championship.
But the team will languish as long as the current culture stays.
The one where parking spots still were available within 20 yards of the Hutchison Stadium entrance 20 minutes before the home opener Saturday.
The one where the varsity roster is 33 players deep.
If 10 get hurt, they're down to 11 for each side of the ball and a backup. (Many play both ways, of course.)
Bradley is the opposite of Tiger Woods, at least publicly. He doesn't get excited when talking about the state of his team. He doesn't leak criticism or negative body language out of frustration, which is harder to avoid than you might think.
Farmington is capable of hiring a competent coach, and Bradley no doubt fits that description. But unless he can get more players, bigger players and better players, the Scorpions are going to keep on losing until they're the Pirates.
Baseball's popularity makes it tough, but that comes down to generating interest at a young age. Farmington's youth and junior high teams must get better if the high school team wants back-to-back winning seasons any time in the next decade.
They will have to compete with baseball to do that.
Right now, in Farmington, that's like guarding Michael Jordan as he takes a game-winning shot. You may get a hand in his face, but there's not much you can do."
*****
Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher
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