CHAPTER 3
DISAPPOINTMENT DISAPPEARS
That day at practice, Coach Jennifer and Assistant Coach Bob gathered their guys at the 50-yard line.
Coach Jennifer said, “Locomotives, I didn’t sleep well last night.”
Assistant Coach Bob said, “I didn’t either.”
Christian growled in Ethan’s ear. Ethan shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Coach Jennifer continued. “We did a lot of things right, but we came up short. It was a tough one.”
Assistant Coach Bob said, “Games like those will eat you to pieces.”
The game had already eaten Ethan to pieces. Ethan wondered how long this speech was going to last.
“What you have to do,” Assistant Coach Bob said, “is put it behind you. We’re the Humboldt Locomotives.”
“It’s on all of us,” said Coach Jennifer. “It’s not on the defense. It’s not on Ethan. It’s on all of us.”
Ethan felt the loss actually was his fault. He had vowed to do better. He had vowed to emerge victorious. Coach Jennifer saying the loss was not Ethan’s fault just made him feel bad again.
“Everyone get in here,” Coach Jennifer said.
The guys gathered in as tightly as they could. In unison, they started bobbing their shoulders back and forth. They were going to get fired up. Coach Jennifer and Assistant Coach Bob clapped their hands rhythmically. The players bobbed their shoulders.
Coach Jennifer clapped twice and said, “Energy!”
The guys clapped twice. They said, “Energy!”
The players bobbed back and forth.
Assistant Coach Bob clapped his hands twice. He said, “Energy!”
The guys clapped twice. They said, “Energy!”
Coach Jennifer clapped twice. She said, “Humboldt!”
The guys clapped twice. They said, “Humboldt!”
Both coaches said, “One, two, three!”
All the players yelled, “HUMBOLDT!” And they ran as fast as they could to their individual stations.
The wideouts began their drills on the blocking dummies. Ethan got himself ready. He lined up five yards away from a dummy.
Assistant Coach Bob blew his whistle.
Ethan exploded forward. He put his shoulder into the blocking dummy and pumped his legs. He drove it backward for ten yards.
The pushing felt great and let him take out his frustrations. He wanted to shove that dummy from one end of the field to the other.
“Atta boy, Ethan,” said Assistant Coach Bob. “Way to drive it with your legs.”
“I’ll growl at it next time,” Ethan said.
“We already have one growler,” Assistant Coach Bob said. “I don’t know if I can handle any more.”
Ethan got in line to nail the dummy again. He put a good number of hard hits on it. He felt some disappointment disappear.
Pass-catching drills came next. The guys played some catch and lined up for the one-on-one drill: one receiver against one defensive back. The quarterback would call out a pattern. The receiver and the defender could both hear it.
The trick was to make the play even when the defense knew what was coming.
Ethan’s first time up, Gavin called a flag pattern. Ethan would need to run six yards down the field, slant inside for three yards, and then break to the outside and run toward the pylon. In the one-on-one drill, this was a tough one to complete.
All the defender had to do was hang back and not let the receiver get behind him.
Gavin dropped back.
Ethan sprinted down the field. He made his cuts and broke toward the pylon.
Gavin threw a tight spiral deep down the field. The defender moved in to make a play on the ball, but Ethan kept his body between the ball and the defensive back and made the catch.
His opponent tackled him, but Ethan held on. Catching the pass and taking the hit felt great. Ethan was focused and regaining his swagger.
Ethan’s next time, Gavin called the hitch-and-go. Ethan was glad—he would have to get back on the horse sooner or later.
Gavin called out signals and dropped back. Ethan fired off the line of scrimmage. He stopped and cut back. The defender knew what was coming, but Gavin pump-faked anyway. Ethan broke up the field. Again, the defensive back was right on him.
Gavin fired.
The defender made a play but bumped Ethan hard before the ball arrived. It was pass interference, but Ethan got back on course, stuck out one hand, and brought in the ball.
Coach Jennifer, who was working with the lineman nearby, saw the play. She trotted over to help Ethan up and give him a high-five. “Nice job,” she said. “Nice concentration.”
Ethan felt like he would never drop a pass again.
* * *
At home, Dad was cooking a salmon fillet on the stove. The kitchen smelled like fish, an aroma Ethan despised. Dad took his hand and wafted some fish-smoke into his nostrils. He breathed in deeply through his nose and savored the smell.
Ethan ignored his dad’s behavior. He asked. “Can we get a blocking dummy?”
“A blocking dummy?” Dad said. “Why?”
“If you screw up the game,” Ethan said, “it’s fun to shove them around.”
“I bet so,” said Dad. “You think I could shove this blocking dummy around? You know, give it the business when I came home from work?”
“Probably.”
“I’ll think about it, then,” said Dad. “Run any hitch-and-goes at practice?”
“We did in the one-on-one.” Ethan plugged his nose. He waived fish smell out of his face.
“You get back on your horse?” asked Dad.
“For sure,” said Ethan. His voice was stuffy from plugging his nose.
“Sounds like things are headed in the right direction,” said Dad. “You know, I’ve been thinking. You ought to try positive visualization. It’s another thing that could help.”
Ethan didn’t respond.
Dad went on. “Positive visualization is pretty simple,” he said. “You just have to learn how to concentrate hard. Then you focus in on an imaginary scene where you see yourself succeeding. If you picture yourself succeeding, you will.”
Ethan still didn’t respond. He didn’t want to hear about positive visualization.
“The trick is,” said Dad, “to do it again and again until it feels normal. And you have to concentrate hard. You have to focus.”
Ethan waved his hand in front of his face. He said, “Dad, I’m good.”