Gretchen Rose's blog

From Son Up to Son Down: A Middle School Football Game-Day Diary

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Thu, 09/12/2013 - 18:50. | comments

The big day finally has arrived! Who is ready for some Tuesday night football? After a summer of workouts, drills, and tournaments, it is finally time for my son to use all the skills he has learned on the football field.

After 8 years of playing against the other neighborhood school teams, the 7th grade is finally together as one team. The first game is a big one. The schedule has 7th grade as the away team, so it comes with the added bonus of traveling on a bus with 100 + of your favorite 12- and 13-year-old boys. Just bless the coaches right now!

So here is the game-day journal of just another football mom, navigating her way through the waters of 7th grade football!

After 8 years of playing against the other neighborhood school teams, a Texas youth football player begins 7th grade football. Want to know what it's like for his mom? Well, here's her game-day journal.

Gretchen Rose

Two-A-Days: Are You Ready For Some Football?

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Thu, 08/22/2013 - 13:19. | comments

Mid-August in Texas can only mean one thing: it is time for football season, finally!

Before we can start school and focus on the upcoming schedule, we tune up with "two-a-days." In its purest form, that means teams practice in the early morning, take a break, and come back in the evening for a second practice, thus avoiding practice during the hottest part of the day. Football player hydrating

A Texas mom of two teenagers - a son in his first year of middle school football and a daughter on the high school drill team - slogs through an endless series of two-a-days in preparation for another year of school and sports.

Gretchen Rose

Season Tickets For Texas High School Football: Priceless

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Sun, 06/16/2013 - 16:42. | comments

I wonder how much a ticket would cost to see Game 7 of a Boston Red Sox World Series game at Fenway Park. What would some "Cheeseheads" in Wisconsin do to get tickets for the NFC championship at Lambeau Field, January snow and all? A ticket to any NBA final with Michael Jordan playing would have been priceless. In some years, a single ticket to the Texas/OU game during the State Fair of Texas can cost thousands. Map of Texas with fooball pin in Dalls

No doubt about it, sports fans love their teams and the games they play. Because for some games and some teams are so iconic that the money and time spent are priceless. High school football is that way for one Texas mom.

Gretchen Rose

Watching "The Smartest Team" Documentary: A 3-Day Test of Endurance, But Worth The Effort

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Mon, 05/06/2013 - 15:51. | comments

I was thrilled to get my copy of "The Smartest Team." This great documentary is the creation of MomsTEAM founder Brooke de Lench, who clearly has a great interest in concussion prevention in sports - especially football. Having had a concussion as a child, I know all too well about the pain, the setbacks, and the long road it sometimes take to recovery. I had to relearn the multiplication tables for 6s and 7s in 5th grade! I was mortified. To this day I have trouble with 6x8=48! Gretchen Rose and son

A football mom from Texas was thrilled to get her copy of "The Smartest Team" and couldn't wait to watch it with her son and his football buddies. While the short attention span of 12-year-old boys meant that it would end up being a three-day test of endurance, it proved to be a very educational experience.

Gretchen Rose

Louisville's Kevin Ware: Thinking More About His Team Than His Injury Was A Great Lesson For Easter

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 15:02. | comments

Is it just me, or did we just see the Easter Story re-enacted during the Louisville/Duke game on Sunday?

Christian parents around the world lovingly take their children to church and celebrate the Lenten season in the hopes that their children will eventually understand the story of Jesus Christ and the gift of Salvation that he gave to humankind. The religious story is simple: he died so that "we" can live on with a rich spiritual life on earth and in Heaven.

That Louisville's Kevin Ware's first thought after suffering a gruesome injury on Sunday against Duke was for his team, not himself, gave Easter Sunday a whole new meaning for one Texas mom and her 12-year-old son.

Gretchen Rose

Getting Kids To Games On Time Is More Than Half The Battle!

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Wed, 03/06/2013 - 15:19. | comments

"90% of life is just showing up."

~ Woody Allen ~

How sports parents juggle all their responsibilities when winter and spring sports converge? It depends on the number of kids, says one Texas mom: two kids calls for man-to-man, three requires a zone, and three or more means it's time to run the option.

Gretchen Rose

Becoming A Basketball Mom Was Tougher Than I Thought!

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Thu, 01/17/2013 - 18:39. | comments

The New Year has started, which means a new school semester and a new sports season. It is cold and wet outside, so we have taken our sports enthusiasm from the gridiron to the basketball court; a tough transition for a dedicated football mom like me!

That my knowledge of basketball wasn't nearly as deep as my understanding of football was driven home to me, so to speak, during the first week back to school when I picked up my son and four of his classmates after school.

Learning the right lingo to use while cheering on her teenage son at a basketball game proved to be more of a challenge for one dedicated football mom than she thought.

Gretchen Rose

Texans Celebrate Thanksgiving With the 4 Fs: Family, Friends, Food, and Football!

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Tue, 11/13/2012 - 21:50. | comments

The days are getting shorter. The leaves on the trees are turning beautiful shades of burnt orange, maroon, gold and plum. The election season is finally over, too. The temperature has dropped below 80 in Texas. For me, it is the best time of the year. Time to concentrate on the 4 Fs for the remaining weeks of the year: Family, Friends, Food, and, of course, Football.

Bountiful Feast

Pecan pie topped with dollop of whipped cream

Thanksgiving is all about the 4 Fs in Texas. Our turkeys are roasted, unless you are tailgating for the holiday. That bird is deep-fried in a propane cooker on asphalt in the parking lot.

Thanksgiving will be a bit different in Texas this year. While one mom from Dallas says it will still be celebrated with family, friends, food, and football, one tradition will be missing: for the first time in nearly a century, the University of Texas Longhorns won't be playing the Texas A & M Aggies.

Gretchen Rose

When A Player Is Hurt, Every Mom Feels Their Pain

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Sun, 10/28/2012 - 20:44. | comments

The hit was clean. The defensive end came off the line quickly and got around two offensive blockers. He met the running back in the backfield and they crashed together to the turf. The fans cheering the offense fell silent. The defense had held, forcing a fourth down. Time to call, in the words of the announcer, a "$10.00 cab ride" for the offense.

The play was over, but the defensive end and the running back were still down. It was a scene no fan wants to see. Even if your child isn't the one injured, a sobering thought runs through your mind anyway: that it could have been.

The play was over, but the defensive end and the running back were still down. It was a scene no fan wants to see. Even if your child isn't the one injured, a sobering thought runs through your mind anyway: that it could be.

Gretchen Rose

Football Mom 2.0

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Mon, 10/15/2012 - 14:28. | comments

The conversion is complete! What a difference a year can make! This time last year, I was a timid novice. I was new to the world of elementary school 11-man tackle football. As a mom, I wanted to learn quickly, so I could help my son and myself! I channeled the truly great one, Olivia Manning! She is a football mom with no peers! With two sons in the NFL, she has seen it all! Every day and every situation, I would ask myself, "What would Olivia do ?" She served me well. We had a very successful first year in the league.

With her son in his second year playing football, a Texas mom has taken her game to a whole new level, but because she loves football and her son, it was easier than she thought to "graduate."