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By NORM HANEY, The Daily News, nhaney@bgdailynews.com/783-3271
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 12:09 PM CDT
By the time the Western Kentucky football team suits up for its season opener at Georgia on Sept. 2, there's not much anyone will remember about Monday's first practice.
Other than getting used to the heat, the first practice serves no real purpose. It does allow everyone on the team to convene for the first time. For some, it means learning new terminology, as well as starting to bond with new teammates and coaches.
Maybe most importantly, it's the official start to the season. From now on out, it's eat, sleep and drink football for at least the next 15-plus weeks - which the Tops hope will be more, because that would mean a trip to the playoffs.
“We were all excited to get back. We've been anxious to get back out here, but really, quite honestly, we'll be more excited to get the pads on,” WKU coach David Elson said. “It's a good process to get out here and get some mental reps and get the young guys some reps here early to see what they can do.”
One thing that may have made concentrating a little more difficult than normal was the sweltering heat, which was well into the 90s. One of the more noticeable traits of practicing in the heat is mistakes, which come along with fatigue. While players may not have been hauling in every pass or stepping to the right spots, Elson said he was pleased by the end of practice with the way his team performed.
“It was warm, that was my first thought,” Elson said. “We were sloppy early - had a lot of dropped passes. It was first day jitters and we weren't focused at times. I think maybe we were trying too hard at times, but it seemed like it got better as the day went along.”
The Hilltoppers will not go full contact until Saturday. They first have to meet the NCAA requirement of five single practices without full contact, which means they will go two more practices in helmets and shorts and then two in helmets and shoulder pads.
Before the hitting begins, however, it's primarily about getting everyone mentally prepared to be in the right places and react the right way once they get there. For senior linebacker Jon Hedges, he feels it's partially his responsibility to make sure the younger and veteran players alike are doing just that and doing it with the right attitude.
“It was kind of hot, but we pushed through it. We were real talkative, so overall I thought it was good,” Hedges said. “First day of practice we want to see all the seniors be leaders and be vocal and help the freshman and newcomers.”
But at the end of the day, everyone is just happy to finally get the season started. After losing their final four games of the season last year, most of the veteran players had already been putting in a full day's work throughout the summer in preparation for the upcoming season. So now that it's finally here, it's time to really get down to business.
“It's a great feeling,” junior wideout Curtis Hamilton said. “I've been working hard all summer just to get to this point, so now that it's here we just have to keep working hard.”
The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
- George Carlin
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