Football Camp

last Tuesday the Liberty Falcons set off at 8 am for camp rilea for our yearly football camp. camp rilea is an army base just north of seaside, Oregon, and about three fourths of a mile from the coast.

we arrived, loaded off the bus, and just about died. it was 95 degrees outside. our coaches started yelling directions, and camp was off. after getting unpacked in the barracks we were assigned to, the coaches yelled into our halls 'thirty minutes till practice. shells. don't forgot the water jugs.' we got off easy with the shells, which is not full pads, but just shoulder pads and helmets. going back out into the heat, we had our first practice. things went well, my hamstring felt great, and the team was getting along just nicely.

after our first two hour practice, we headed back into the somewhat cooler barracks (80 degrees) we changed and headed to dinner. with 8 other teams there, including two teams from Canada, and one from Idaho, there was quite the line. after dinner was 7 on 7. that's a scrimmage with just the quarterback and receivers on O, and dbs and linebackers on D.

after 7 on we had a team meeting to do chalk talk and defensive sets. after that the seniors called their own meeting. well, i called a meeting for the seniors. that morning at practice some guys had not been wearing all their required pads, and so had to do running for it. trying to be a leader, i hollered 'seniors, lets go with 'em' as they started their run. all but one of the seniors joined me. during the meeting i thanked everybody for joining me, and shared with them my thoughts on why i did, that the seniors need to be willing to show that their willing to do anything anybody else does. they all agreed. every night after that the seniors had our own meeting before bed to go over the day, discussing anything that went awry that day, and what went well.

our schedule was the next three were as follows- wake up at 7 am. breakfast at 7 15. first practice at 9. lunch at noon. second practice at 1 30. dinner at 5. 7 on 7 at 7 (yes. i typed that right.) and our team meeting at 9. all practices were full pads, two hours long, the second hour being a scrimmage against another team.

my mom might yell at me a little bit for boasting here, but i got some pretty awesome hits on guys from other teams. both on Offense and Defense. LOVE FOOTBALL. where else can you run full speed into somebody, give them a concussion, and be applauded for it? :D

Wednesday night the Falcons headed to the beach for some relaxation. me, hating the beach, walked down in my shoes and socks, and sat on a log while everyone else had fun in the water.

but, it was inevitable, someone said, wheres the Mormon Avenger? and they came for me. all of them. all 34 of them. its a good thing I'm fast, otherwise i would have been in the water, soaking wet and cold and angry. they did manage, however, to get our defensive coordinator in the water. and hes a BIG guy. it took them 45 minutes to get him the 20 yards to the water. that was entertaining to watch.

Thursday night the entire camp headed to the obstacle course on the base for some fun. during that half an hour walk, my knee started hurting. not just an ache, but a sharp pain whenever i bent it. what did i do to it? i have NO idea. its football, people get hurt all the time without knowing it. adrenaline is an amazing thing. but my knee was bugging me so i skipped the obstacle course, and sought out Angie, liberty's athletic trainer. she said something about my quad being twisted, and maybe my knee cap chipped. i didn't want to hear it, and neither did Mahlum, the head coach. he saw me with Angie, and all he had to say was- i don't want to know, just fix it.

so i skipped 7 on 7 that night, and the scrimmage the next morning. after cleaning the barracks for two hours to pass the military grade inspection, we were on our way home.

that was football camp. had a TON of fun. got some hard hits in. made some big plays. and bonded with my brothers. cant wait till September third.

its gonna be good. :)

i have been told....

i have been told that i don't update my blog enough by some loving cousins, and quite frankly, i agree. this summer i am going to make an effort to write at least once a week. heaven knows I'm this computer enough to do it, so that's my goal, i hope you all will help me keep it and achieve it.
so whats going on in my life? first and foremost- football. we have weight lifting every Monday Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8 to 10. most days i ride my (well, my dads bike) to Liberty. its about a 2 minute ride, 15 on a good day. i have a bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter and honey mixed into it. DELICIOUS. plus, it gives me the quick energy from the honey and the long lasting energy from the peanut butter and keeps my full from the oatmeal. thank you bro. barker for opening my eyes to it. its appreciated.
because of my hamstring (i pulled it at the state track meet for those of you who are unaware) i am unable to do most of the lifting. I'm stuck doing bench press, inclined bench, row, pull ups and curls. i have been riding a bike and stretching constantly to help my hammy to heal as quickly as possible. especially since this year is my senior year. i don't want to go another year sitting on the sideline. ESPECIALLY my senior year.
the leg feels good now, and its been about five weeks since the accident, so I'm going to try running on it next week sometime. no lifting yet, at least not heavy weights, just to be safe.
what else..... OH! i have found a strange new passion for yard work. its relaxing to go out there and do some good in the yard. except for weeding. that's just tedious and numbing.

Time Trials

Time trials for track are tomorrow. i will be running the 100, 400, long jump, and high jump. Time trials are intended to see where the athletes on the team are physically, and who will be running varsity and JV at which events. Our first meet is April 1st against hillsboro high school. I'll let you know how it goes.

Track- preseason style

It's here. Well, it has been here, for a while now actually. Track preseason started the beginning of January and have been in full swing since. Mondays and Fridays we either condition or work on form. Yesterday we did blocks and starts. I did three starts from the 200m start, since i want to and will be running that event this year.

Next i did starts from the 100m start with a parachute. This was fun, expecially since the was going pretty good against me. As soon as i was out of the blocks, the parachute was in full 'I hate you and your not going anywhere' and at one point, the wind was blowing strong enought to push a full two lanes the the left. FUN. After 8 of those i did a full 100m dash without the parachute or anything and MAN it felt good. haven't run like that in a while, just you and the track. The cold wind blowing in the face, the pounding of your feet on the rubber. The smooth pendulum of your arms swinging at your sides. You get into a rythem. A beautiful and relaxing rythem of peace.

ANYWAYS after the 100m was my cooldown.

preseason is nice because the people who truly want to win show up. its a good almost private workout.

the events I'm planning to do this year are the 200m dash, long jump and triple jump. Id like to try high jump, javelin and maybe pole vault.

track officially starts February 22nd, our first meet being March 12th.

I'll keep you updated.

hockey

last night my mom got a call from one of her counselors that her husband had three extra tickets to a Portland winter hawks game, and wanted to know if we were interested in going. sure, why not? after the almost two hour ride 0n the max into Portland (AMAZING how Oregon shuts down if there is even a light dusting of snow. FAIL) we arrived, and discovered that the refs, and half of the away team wasn't even there yet. thank you snow. the game was postponed for an hour and 45 minutes, which wasn't all that bad since we had suite tickets and had plenty of pop and chex mix to eat. that was cool.

the game started, and i first noticed a few things. things- hockey looks like a lot of fun. its very fast paced, very hard hitting, and very tribal. now when i say tribal, i don't mean a bunch of guys running around in loin clothes, with paint all over them. no, not at all, well, kind of. BUT what i mean is that the teams were so in sync with each other, so knowledgeable of where another player would be at any given time. this is amazing to watch, incredible. the skill it takes to be able to control a small rubber puck with a stick at pretty fast speeds with some guy skating right beside you whacking you and someone else tyring to get on a line so he can level you, is exciting to me. it seems like fun. very competitive, very joyous time.

another part of that tribal aspect is the brotherhood. not just knowing your teammates, but sticking up for them. this was most evident with the goalies. i learned very quickly that you don't hit a goalie. every time an opposing player would even come close to the goalie, the entire team was there in between the goaly and the opposition, glaring him down, daring him to do something about it. now, this is not to say that this 'you mess with me, you mess with the whole trailer park' attitude wasn't evident with the offensive and other defensive players, cause it was. that, is also appealing to me.

maybe that's why the military draws me in so much. you and your squad are a family, nothing less. if you're not, you're dead. but that's another post for another time.

so thank you brother and sister Jenson for thinking of the Nields with some extra tickets. it was fun.

christmas at the nield household

christmas is here, as I'm sure you are all aware. at my house that means lots of goodies, lots of time together as a family, and lots of weird, strange and obscure things happening.
my mom always does the goodies. they are always absolutely delicious. from cookies to pecan logs, there is always something to eat. and at a house with two teenage boys and two almost teenage boys, its not an easy task.
my dad heps where he is needed, otherwise you'll find him watching football, on his computer, playing with zach or ryan, or sleeping.
since we got a wii lastyear from my dads parents that is beginning to take over regular tv as our main source of entertainment. which means things like this happens. they are playing sonic and mario at the olympic games. the first video is of them doing 100 meter dash. the second is the 100 meter free swim. I'm on the couch behind them trying not to get a wii remote thrown at me, moms behind the camera. from left to right, zach, dad, ryan josh. beware, fast and spastic movements, not for those who may get seizures.
this is my family. love them to death.

hello world

when i had posts things on my moms blog she always had a fit over my lack of enthusiasm about correct grammar and punctuation, so i apologize to her, and anyone who else it will bug, for my laziness. but i still love my mom and know she cares about me. as a reslut, i decided to make my own blog.
so hello world, thanks for reading my first ever blog post on my first ever personal blog. more will follow.