A MEMORY SUBLIME for Ike Ditzenberger

Dreams energize your endeavors but memories hug your soul.

I love people stories that reveal the love that dwells in the hearts of man kind. This is a story about two teams and one special young man. Friday night lights reached a whole new level on September 24, 2010 when Ike Ditzenberger scored his team's only touch down and danced in the end zone as time expired in the game.

Nice you say but that happens all across the nation every Friday night in the Fall. Not quite this way. Ike is an unusual young man.  He grew up watching his older brothers play football and oh how he idolized them.  Imitating them daily and dreaming of becoming just like them and being the star on a college football team.

Today Ike is a 17 year old junior at Snohomish High School in Seattle who has Down Syndrome. His 5-foot-6, 160-pound frame isn’t that of an athlete, and he doesn’t have the motor skills to compete in a game where he could easily get hurt. But Ike has a dream. He is blessed with a supportive family and classmates. Football Coach Mark Perry invited Ike to come to practices  and hang with the team. He even designed a touchdown run especially for Ike that ends every varsity practice called the Ike Special.

Playing an undefeated Lake Stevens High the Snohomish team was behind  35-0 as the end of the fourth quarter drew near. With 10 seconds left on the clock, Coach Perry heard the “We want Ike!” chant from the stands, and called the Ike Special. Wearing No. 57, Ike booked it for 51 yards, scoring a sweet six points in the final seconds of the game. His teammates swarmed around and joined him in a touchdown dance as both teams and fans went wild.

An emotional crowd witnessed the best of what football teaches: character, sportsmanship, team spirit, self-confidence and a memory sublime for everyone present.

A picture of Grace

Photo from Gainsville State School member

"There are some games where cheering for the other side feels better than winning."

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith are the Lions.

It was really strange - like rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on - by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five - handcuffs ready in their back pockets - and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery - many of whose families had disowned them - wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.


So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans - for one night only - cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why are they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still...

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home - a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

HOPE

By Rick Reilly
Life of Reilly
Posted at ESPN: The Magazine
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3789373&type=story

Chances

Wrongway Riegels

It’s with great trepidation I welcome back football season. I won’t be able to touch the remote control without fear of losing a hand and the men in my life will go into their yearly transfixed state of mind. I am, however the perpetual cheerleader for the men in my life. No longer outfitted in those cute, tiny miniskirts but cheering on their teams as always. Go Get-em Fairview Knights, Rock On LSU Tigers, Stun-em Faith Christian Eagles, Go Buffs! Hit em high, hit em low, where they go? We don’t know! It will probably take me all week to come up with a cheer for next week end. I did come across a story I remember hearing about for years. It will be familiar to most of you.

On New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. In that game a man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California. Somehow, he became confused and started running 65 yards in the wrong direction. One of his own teammates, Benny Lom, outdistanced him and downed him just before he scored for the opposing team. When California attempted to punt, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety which was the ultimate margin of victory.

That strange play came in the first half, and everyone who was watching the game was asking the same question: "What will Coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the second half?" The men filed off the field and went into the dressing room. They sat down on the benches and on the floor, all but Riegels. He put his blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, put his face in his hands, and cried like a baby.

If you have played football, you know that a coach usually has a great deal to say to his team during half time. That day Coach Price was quiet. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels. Then the timekeeper came in and announced that there were three minutes before playing time.

Coach Price looked at the team and said simply, "Men the same team that played the first half will start the second." The players got up and started out, all but Riegels. He did not budge. The coach looked back and called to him again; still he didn't move.

Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that played the first half will start the second." Then Roy Riegels looked up and his cheeks were wet with a strong man's tears.

"Coach," he said, "I can't do it to save my life. I've ruined you, I've ruined the University of California, I've ruined myself. I couldn't face that crowd in the stadium to save my life."

Then Coach Price reached out and put his hand on Riegel's shoulder and said to him: "Roy, get up and go on back; the game is only half over." And Roy Riegels went back, and those Tech men will tell you that they have never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels played that second half.

A pearl to string: Jesus offers us the chance to start anew - clean and fresh. No matter how badly we've blown it, no matter how many times we've failed, we can start over. Today is the day for a fresh start. Get back in the game! Your second half has just started.
“His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness”. Lamentations 3:22-23

The Lord is the Victor
You are loved,
Lyndi

11-8-06 Living in a vegetative state?

November 8, 2006

How can one tell?
For a live demo go to the family room

Coach Wonderful and I were sitting in the family room when he said to me, "Grandma, just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

So I got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all his diet Pepsi!

I had no idea when I married him that my hubby apparently suffered from a not so rare genetic deformity in his DNA. It’s commonly referred to as The Interior Pigskin Membrane. Instead of fat cells beneath their skin they have football cells. Typical symptoms are: prolonged staring which results in drooling, excessive pontification, and a fixation on Xs and Os. To my chagrin I thought those were kisses and hugs. This genetic deformity seems to multiply in families like rabbits to the second and third generation and probably beyond. Well at least I married the Center and not the loose end……… tight end…whatever!

Ok football is beginning to get on my nerves. I think high school football is pretty cool. I especially love to watch our son Tom coach his Knights and our grandson TC send those spirals through the air. Love watching our grandson Derek smile as he flattens the opponents in junior high school. College football is always exciting all day and night on Saturdays. Paaleeze, Calgone take me away! It kind of dwarfs the good ole` fun January 1st bowl game day of yesteryear. That has turned into “The 32 Games of Bowl Season” month! Ugg! ESPU! Every night of the week there is some kind of football on TV. If it’s not the NFL or Big Time College or local high school then it’s Fantasy Football! All across the world you can hear women cry: “Hold me, Hug me, squeeze me, pretend I’m your remote control”! Lord have muuur .. saaay! I drove to the park last Saturday just to escape the sound of football and to listen to classical music while I watched the sunset and what did I spy?



[Lord let this work]




















[green 27-green 27 - hut-hut]





Do you see that little football on the ground?
Even the prairie dogs play football around here!


[Hooray! Sike!]





Sometimes there is just a whole lot of shaking going on in a person’s life. Perhaps not earth shaking - just aggravating. When life gets a pile up of annoyances I cling to Job 9:27 “… 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile." I cannot control what others do nor can I control circumstances but I CAN control my attitude and my response. Wow! God is good!

A Pearl to string: A strong woman has faith
that she is strong enough for the journey....
but a woman of strength
has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.

Know you are
Made for and loved by Him,
Lyndi