2011 All-American Game

Well I just got back from the All-American game in Dallas, TX and let me tell you it was hot! Literally and metaphorically. When I left Portland on Thursday it was about 85 degrees. I boarded a plane from Portland to Phoenix, stopped for just enough time to pick up a slice of pizza, and then jumped on the next plane from Phoenix to Dallas.

On that 2nd flight I sat in the middle seat between two men. The one on the left was nice and we ended up of course talking about football. The one on the right was probably about 55, balding, heavier, quiet. When we landed and everyone was standing up and getting their stuff together his phone went off and his ringtone was...Katy Perry...I tried so hard not to laugh...somehow I made it off the plane without busting up.

Sidenote: Baggage fees are ridicious and everyone tries to get around it. I've traveled a lot including to 14 other countries and I've always seen people with carry-ons but now EVERYONE has one. And they are all the same little ones with wheels. So we all wheel around and get stuck sometimes on other little bags with wheels. And we all try to maneuver them into small spaces in bathrooms. And then when you get on the plane now it's a fierce battle for overhead space. I was waiting for a wrestling match to break out on the last couple.

I got my luggage together and found the designated shuttle van area and just sitting on the bench waiting for the van I was sweating and it was around 8pm. I got to the hotel and checked in. Most of us All-Americans were staying at the same hotel, the La Quinta. Others stayed at the Holiday Inn or a couple others but they were all in the same area and quite close to the field. I unpacked and then went to the gas station next to the hotel to pick up some water, gatorade, and a sandwhich.

I then met up with Liz Floto who plays with the San Diego Surge. So in case you are unaware the WFA has their championship game and All-American game in one big weekend. The San Diego Surge was my conference's (American Conference) team in the title game against the Boston Militia. Liz and I played a year with each other on the Corvallis Pride in 2009 so it was cool to see her again and catch up.

My teammate Teters also got selected for the All-American game and arrived that night around 11:30pm. We were hungry and walked over to an IHOP for food. Then watched the Hangover in the hotel room for a bit before passing out.

Friday morning I guess we were both tired cuz we didn't get up until around noon. We ate some lunch at the steakhouse next to the hotel. I had a sirlion and it was DAMN good. I LOVE Steak and I guess Texas does too. Then we got our stuff together and headed to the field for our practice in the afternoon.

We arrived at the tail end of the combine event in which players participated in events like a 40 yard dash, bench press, and obstacle course. We introduced ourselves to a couple of the coaches and players and I took a picture of the field. Pennington Field is beautiful with pretty decent turf. If only it wasn't so hot! lol

Our coaches had some of us practice kicking and returning kick and we were all burning. It felt like if I didn't move my cleats would melt into the turf. My hands in my gloves felt like they were burning too. Anytime a breeze broke through or the clouds covered the sun for a moment we all got excited.

Practice went well. We went through where everyone played and broke into position groups. We had a small scrimmage so the offense could work through plays. Then we finished with some special teams.

My Dad and brother flew in that afternoon and my Uncle and Aunt who live in the Fort Worth area picked them up. They came to the last part of practic which was cool.

Then we went back to the hotel and showered and had a short classroom type session in the hotel conference room to go over any questions. I really enjoyed being exposed to different styles of coaching.

Teters also had relatives in the area and after the meeting she went to hang out with them. I met up with some of the Silver State Legacy (Vegas) to attend a local all-american football party at a place in Dallas. We got a little lost along the way but it meant we got a tour of the city of Dallas. lol

We got there around 10:30pm and it was pretty laid back. We played an awfully long game of pool. I guess we should all stick to football. Then I turned around it all of a sudden it was packed. In the back room they had a ton of food which was cool. There were a couple of performances.

I had fun kicking it with the Legacy girls. They were hilarious as hell.

I also met a Lone Star Mustang at the bar with her championship ring on and she let me see it. I WANT ONE OF THOSE! Just saying.

Saturday morning we had to wake up EARLY! I don't think I've ever had to be at the field by 8am before. And I am NOT a morning person. I also can never eat much in the mornings anyway. It's kind of like my stomach doesn't wake up until a certain point. I can only really eat fruit that early. I went to the store and wanted a banana but they didn't sell them individually so I had to buy the whole bunch. I just handed out a bunch of extras in the locker room.

In the locker room I sat next to Chrystle Kerfoot of the Blitz and Abby Smith of the Machine. We kind of had our DB Corner. We were there at 8am but weren't required to be out on the field until 9:30 so we got dressed REALLLY Slow hahaha. At least this meant we had time to eat, talk, take random pics, etc.

We went through warm ups fairly lightly. I would just like to say that I LOVED my secondary group. We are all some funny ass people. There were 9 of us for the 4 secondary spots and we all clicked instantly. Our secondary coach was coach Mo and we all liked him. When we were breaking up our group we were trying to figure out what to say to break it off and Coach Mo suggested PICK 6. Alberta from the Diamonds suggested we all say 6 BITCH! So we did. And this is now our motto. And I will now be taking it to Portland. We are going global.

Part of the cool thing about the All-American games is you are all wearing the same jersey but everyone has their team helmets on. Pre-game we lined a bunch of them up on a bench and took a picture.

Finally the game started. Our offense struggled a bit the first half but the same thing happened in the All-American game last year. Basically, it's very hard to put together an offense with one 2 hour practice. Defense is slightly easier because it's more just reading and reacting.

We gave up a big punt return which put the ball on our 20. The National Conference scored first but missed the extra point so it was 6-0 and remained so until halftime.

In these games because there are multiple players at the same position there is usually some rotation like you play 3 plays at a time until rotate. It's a little hard to get a rhythm that way but also ok with me due to the heat. Also, the goal of the All-American game is to get everyone some playing time.

I was selected as a safety and spent much of the game at strong safety and occassionally free safety. Our defense was so good upfront that the ball hardly got to me. I know that is how it is suppose to be but damnit I was getting a little bored! haha I wanted to hit someone!

The 2nd half our offense started to click a little bit more and we got on the board to take the lead 7-6.

In the 3rd quarter I was playing safety and there was a deep pass my way. Sometimes to be honest I can feel when a team is going to pass or do something different like an onside kick before the play starts. Maybe I've just played enough to guess the strategy of people.

I saw the play developing and started coming up towards the receiver. The throw was a little high but the receivers in this game are good and I wasn't about to let them get an easy catch so I came up and nailed her midair at the same time the ball got there. Incomplete. It felt pretty good. Probably one of the best hits I've ever had.

The National conference responded and drove to put up 7 more and re-take the lead at 13-7. Our offense drove down to about the 10 yard line with 1 minute and half left. on 3rd and short the runningback ran into the back of the fullback and fell short. On 4th down there was a fumble on the exchange and that was it. So close!

After the game I found my Dad, Uncle, and brother on the sidelines. Then I quickly went in the locker room to get out of my shoulder pads. I went back to the hotel and quickly showered.

My family and I then went to the Fort Worth Stockyards which is where cowbowys have been driving cattle to since the 1800s. They have a train station, stores, and place to eat all around it. It was a pretty cool area. We stopped and ate. I had steak. Again. Yes, I love it. And I was HUNGRY. It was now 3pm and I had had like 2 bananas before playing in 110 degree heat. I started to feel much better after eating.

My aunt drove us around the area point out various places to see. We then dropped my Dad and brother off at the airport and me back at the hotel. By this time I am tired and lay down for an hour in the air conditioned hotel room. I felt better and got up and headed to the championship game which was starting at 7pm.

I sat up in the stands with some of the Legacy and had a blast with them. The game itself was pretty good. San Diego came out of the gate to take the early lead and then Boston came back with a vengence to eventually win 34-19. And I swear when the sun went down it got HOTTER!

At halftime we ran into some of the Tulsa players and hung with them for a few minutes.

After the game I got some food and tried rally. Again. Then a bunch of us went to a bar close by. There was outdoor setting at this bar and we found a table. Before we realized we were in the bird shitting target zone. In Gemar's words "I did NOT pay for the ambiance or your wildlife to shit on me!"

We then moved inside and had a few beers. Tanya and Cassey from the War Angels were there too.

After a bit some of us kind of hit a wall and we decided to head back to the hotel. I went to sleep around 2am and caught a cab at 4:30am for the airport. I was sooo tired. I have no idea how I kept moving around. I took a flight from Dallas to Phoenix and passed out even though a girl across the aisle was coughing up a lung. I passed out again from Phoenix to Portland. Took the max to my teammates to get my car. Drove home. Passed again.

I went hard! lol But I loved it! It was like football summer camp. Meeting people from other teams is so much fun.

Season Review

Looking back on this season it has probably been the most difficult season I've had emotionally. The expectations were pretty high coming off our season last year in which we come out of the box in a dead sprint. We had new talented recruits, new coaching, and excitement going into this season.

Needless to say it did not go as planned. Injuries, coaching changes...basically the whole season was like being on a ship in a storm.

That being said, I am proud that we survived it and that even during it we got to the playoffs. Long term this will make our organization stronger. We have a core group with a lot of talent. Several people with season ending injuries last year will be back.

We are battle tested and we will regroup. I believe in us.

Some Personal Highlights:

• Being featured on Comcast Sportsnet's Adrenaline Hunter
• Being interviewed by Comcast with awesome after-game hair
• Rushing for over 250 yards against Spokane in a Mudbowl Game
• A 80 yard reception against Central Cal
• Walking into a hotel room of Bay Area Bandits and making several friends.
• An awesome road trip detour in the Mt. Shasta area for a KFC picnic with my teammates
• Going to 6 Flags and riding the wooden roller coaster 3 times in a row with Wheels, TDawg, and Teters
• Kicking it in the Castro during SF Pride
• Attempting to find teammates during craziness of SF Pride
• Partying with teammates at bar of hotel in Spokane
• Interception in endzone against Bay Area
• Actually getting a couple of sacks
• Throwing a 2pt conversion to Mac
• T Dawg turning the wrong way on an option play but still getting it to me for a touchdown
• The infamous KOK party in which we invented numerous Frat Rules
• Teters randomly barking and pretending to be pregnant towards people walking by in SF to the point Klondike, Cassie, and Wheels were crying laughing
• Racing in Klondike's Hamster Mobile AKA the Prius
• Eating unfinished Jellybeans at the Jellybean factory
• Klondike's Dance in Utah
• A cute little boy who was our waterboy at Central Cal. I had a turfburn that had re-opened to the point a coach had to bandage it up on my leg and after my catch I came to the sideline to get water and he looked at me with these big eyes and down at my leg, and back up and asked are you going back in? And I smiled and said yep...It's football...you tape it up and go back in...I love moments like that...
  

2nd Half of Season

GAME 6: @ Utah Blitz

This game was a bit of a grudge match. I think having a giant break in the season helped/hurt us. I was thankful for the couple byes in a row due to the fact I had a concussion and this meant I didn't have to miss any games. However, having 2 weeks off and then playing in high elevation was difficult.

Utah returned the opening kick off back for a touchdown and that was the final score. 8-0. We moved the ball well but like all season struggled in the red zone. The adversity with the injuries and the coaching changes and constant offensive play changes made it very difficult offensively this year.

Our defense played well and pitched a shut out other than that kick return.

Erin Diurba made an awesome catch for an interception that was ESPN worthy. Mac laid a hit that made me giggle like a kid. There were some good plays in there.

GAME 7: @ CENTRAL CAL

Well reader I frankly would like to forget this game. We had 17 people for this game which is just not enough when you are playing a physical team. The good news is we found a passing game this game.

I had 80 yard catch and almoooost scored but kind of ran out of gas. Jet probably had the best passing game I've ever seen her have. I don't think they were expecting us to pass much. I don't think WE even knew lol

However, like most of the season against better teams...when you have 17 people you get tired and they wore us down and the score quickly grew in the 2nd half.

The end of this game got a bit ugly which is the part I would like to forget. I'm so damn competitive on the field that even if you are kicking my ass I will keep going hard and keep getting up. That's just my mentality in football. It kind of HAS to be your mentality especially if you are a running back. It's a survival tactic.

Plus the beauty in football is it's like life. You get knocked down? Get back up. Want to piss someone off that is talking shit? You get back up. That's how you win that mental battle. You DON'T give in.

This makes it hard for me to understand other viewpoints of people who don't view football the same way.

I won't get into to the details but I do think all involved learned something from it.

GAME 8: vs. SPOKANE

At this point in the season we really had faced a lot of shit. I really think most other teams would have folded under all that adversity. But we did have a solid core that stuck together and we were determined to finish out this season on a high note.

Unfortunately, Spokane didn't have enough players to come down and play us. After a few days of trying to make it work they ended up having to forfeit.

This meant we ended 4-4 and division champions. To go through hell and still get to the playoffs is bittersweet but we are happy to get there.

PLAYOFFS: @ BAY AREA

After trying to scrap together as many players as we could for this game we still ended up with 17 suited. Jet had to have surgery on her broken finger that she had played with then entire season. Other people couldn't go due to work and/or financial issues.

It was what it was but we still made the trip down to the Bay.

Even though they wore us down and put up numbers on the board we did somethings well and I don't think we felt ashamed at all.

After the game the Bay Area announcer gave me a shout out on the PA which to be completely honest really meant a lot to me. After such a difficult season it was nice to hear someone noticed my hard work.

I have been lucky enough to have made good friends on several other teams the last couple of years and have made some good connections with the Bay Area team.

After the game I met up with Joy and her wife Anne and we went down to the Castro for the SF Pride weekend. I was very excited about this because I had never been to SF Pride. It was packed down there but I had a lot of fun. Later we met up with Rowena and her gf, and I met Jen and her sister Alli. I had a blast people watching and laughing at Joy screaming at the street sweepers that kept interrupting our fun.

The next day I met up with some of my teammates for the SF Pride parade. We had a lot of fun but got hella burnt. We think it's because we were standing next to a glass building which reflected down on us. However it happened we all were passing around Aloe the rest of the trip back.