Team Meals: It's All About The Good Stuff

Like many football teams, my team has weekly meals together as a position group. It is one of my favorite times of the week as it consists of the entire offensive line going out to a sports bar, buffet of some sort, or a local favorite and consuming an insane and unhealthy amount of food. Heaven. Not to mention having 16 guys at 240+lbs sitting at a table together can be quite intimidating even for the most veteran of servers. We were actually asked by a waiter at Olive Garden to never come back again after we had to have set the record for most breadsticks consumed at one sitting. My Mom can attest to that one- it was a sight.

Non-linemen on the other hand like going to places such as The Cheesecake Factory, Q'Doba, and other "skinny-people" places where you can't consume large amounts of food at one sitting without spending a good chunk of money. Their meals are much less entertaining, mostly because fat people are just funnier than skinny people in general. It's true- I read it in a book. Go sit through one of their meals where they don't order any appetizers, get salads and vegetables, and drink water and see how much "fun" they are. Then come to one of our shmorgus borgs and enjoy tons of hot wings and cheese sticks, nothing green within a 50 yard vicinity, and waterfalls of Mountain Dew and Cherry Coke. Which one do you think you'd like better?

But the food is not the only part of "The Good Stuff" when it comes to team meals. The dinners give you a chance to really get to know the guys around you on a much deeper level You know, like whether they like wings or drumsticks and other important stuff. But in all seriousness, I spend anywhere from 40-60 hours a week with these guys depending on travel time to away games. The majority of my memories from college either have to do with football, or at least with my teammates. It's no coincidence that my best friends on campus also happen to be on the team. These guys have shed the same blood and sweat 24/7/365 as I have for the last 4 years. And these meals play a big part in creating those deep connections with my fellow fatties. Skill guys don't really have to know their fellow position players like us linemen do. We have to know what each other are going to do without even asking. We have to be able to read the body language and muffled sounds on the line and turn them into our signals and changes when we are blocking. We really do have to be the closest knit unit on the team. We know the team can't do anything without us. So when the skinny guys make fun of us for going to CiCi's Pizza and staying for 2 hours, we stick out our chests and bellies, smiling with pride.

Now for my review of college football thus far. Not gonna lie I have been thoroughly impressed with what Rich Rodriguez has done with his QB Denard Robinson. He is averaging over 410 yards of total offense per game. Makes sense considering Rodriguez has been busted for keeping his players in practice and film far longer than allowed by the NCAA. Bless the hearts of Notre Dame fans across the country- they just can't seem to get over that hump. The black sheep of the SEC, Ole Miss, has also been beaten badly with losses to Jacksonville St. and Vanderbilt. Any SEC team that loses to Vandy deserves all of the ridicule possible- I don't even know if those guys practice as much as we do. Texas and Florida have both been struggling with their new QBs, a trend that will continue throughout this season as neither has the experience or running attack necessary to sustain the powerful offenses we have seen from them in the past. As for Bama, Trent Richardson did as I expected, making people wonder even more if he really is better than Ingram. Even though Ingram did have over 150 yards on just 9 carries and 2 TDs, I still think Richardson might be a little better. As Bama moves deeper in their SEC schedule, getting both snaps throughout the games will wear down defenses until they fold like the Buffalo Bills in the Superbowl.

As for this week, keep an eye on Bama at Arkansas, South Carolina at Auburn, and Oregon St. at Boise St. This will be Bama's first real test, playing Ryan Mallet's high powered passing attack in Fayetteville. Bama will win because of their running game as always, as it will more than compensate for our deficiencies in the secondary. You just can't beat a team that holds the ball for 12 minutes in the fourth quarter because of their unstoppable running attack. As for South Carolina at Auburn, I like South Carolina in this one. Spurrier always brings his A game when he's on the road, especially at Auburn. And I really don't think Gene Chizik has the Plainsmen quite as ready as everybody else does. They are very flashy and feed off of momentum, so look out if South Carolina gets on a roll. And finally Oregon ST. at Boise St. The Bronco's are basically unbeatable at their place, thanks to visiting teams being mesmerized by that infamous blue turf. Kellen Moore is playing well and that Boise defense is running to the ball too well to get beat. Boise wins, and basically solidifies themselves as a BCS contender. Like I said before week 1, Bama vs. Boise St. in the national championship come January.

Until Next Time,
Roll Tide!
The Big Man