The Locker Room August 31, 2005

Cougars Prepare for Season Opener

It’s time to buckle up those chin straps and get ready to fight, as Pulaski County heads into week one of the regular season against longtime foe Patrick Henry……possibly without the services of junior Kevin Crouse.

Crouse, last years Roanoke Times “Sizzlin’ Sophomore of the Year” and winner of many awards for his running skills, was injured on play one of the Liberty game during last weeks Touchdown Classic. Early tests have shown that while it most likely isn’t a serious injury, its location may cause Head Coach Jack Turner to keep Crouse out of action to prevent anything more serious from happening before it heals all the way. We can expect a decision later in the week after the tests have all been run and everything has been evaluated. Needless to say, his absence would be felt. Not only on offense, but possibly more so on defense. Most people don’t realize that Crouse is also one of the leading tacklers on the team. How will the Cougars handle this loss? “We put another gold helmet into the machine and the wheels keep on turning” said Coach Turner.

Pulaski County showed much improvement during last weeks Touchdown Classic. Coach Turner and staff were pleased to see that each of the areas that they pointed out that the team needed to improve upon from the Richlands scrimmage were fixed, and several of the younger players not only held their own, but stepped it up and did very well when put into action. In action against Lord Botetourt, Pulaski County played tough, physical, aggressive football and the final score (21-0) didn’t really show just how well they did. In the contest against Liberty, Pulaski continued to play well, but with the loss of Crouse as well as his backup, the offense found it tough to move the ball. It was a very physical game, with Liberty coming out on top 13-0 in the end. So that was last week, and the pre-season is now a thing of the past. As Coach Turner told his team after the Classic Friday night, “On Monday, we begin practice for real and start getting ready for Patrick Henry”.

Pulaski County has faced Patrick Henry every year since 1974 except for two. The Cougars lead the series 21 to 10, and they have won the last four games in a row. The Cougars have also managed to win 21 of the last 24 meetings between the two teams. The Patriots started their season last week, playing against their cross town rivals William Fleming. The Patriots lost that game 31-14. So what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing! Pulaski County is going to have to come out and play physical, hard nosed football to beat Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry has team speed, and that’s something that’s hard to defend. The Cougars are going to have to take the fight to the Patriots if they want to start this season off with a win. Will they be able to do it? I guess we’ll all find out this Friday night at Dobson Stadium. I know I’ll be there, and in case no one else has done so to this point, let me invite you to come out and join in also as the 2005 Edition of the “Pride of Pulaski County” takes the field.

Usually during the write up before the first game, I like to talk about a couple of things. I talk about what its means to wear a gold helmet. I’ve talked about the electricity and anticipation of being in the locker room waiting on time to go out, and how nobody talks and nobody smiles. How the coaches look the players in the eyes to see if they’re ready. I talk about what its like to walk down those 63 steps in front of thousands of friends, family, neighbors and classmates as the Golden Cougar Marching Band plays “2001”. I’ve talked about the younger rec league and middle school football players who gather at the bottom of the steps and slap the players on the shoulder pads and helmets as they walk by, and how that gets some of those kids dreaming about the day that they will be able to walk down those very steps. I think we’ve talked about all of that before, and while it’s always good to think about it again, sometimes you find something even more important to remind you just how special this program is to the people in the County. This week I found one of those things.

On Sunday night I got an email that got my attention right away. The subject line was “Hello from Iraq”. The only way to explain it is for you to read it.

“Cougar Dave,

I am stationed here in Iraq for a one year tour with my fellow 80th Div soldiers from the Reserve unit in Dublin. I have not missed a Cougar football game home or away since my active duty time in Germany 1989. Please Yell extra loud for me this season and pray for all of us to be home for next season. I will follow the season through the Cougar web page and The Southwest Times. Go Cougars!

SFC Thomas R. Thompson”

SFC Thompson is the father of Chad Thompson, who graduated last year. I emailed him back, asking when he deployed and when we could expect to see him back, as well as what he was doing over there and all that kind of stuff.

“Cougar Dave,

Our unit deployed on May 8 2005 to train up for three months to travel to Iraq. Our mission is to train Iraq soldiers to be self supporting and to conduct missions as a Battalion. We are the third rotation of army trainers who have trained this particular battalion of Iraq soldiers. We eat, sleep, live, and everything else out side the wire. It's a very dangerous job but it also is much safer with them (Iraq soldiers) because they know when something isn’t right and our group of soldiers are very good fighters. We are on one year orders. I will send you a picture as soon as I can, until then enjoy the games and we'll be there in spirit. Go Cougars!”

I’m not sure if I can really put into words just how much this says about our program and the type of people who cheer for it every week. Here we have a guy who is away from home, in harms way, and yet still he finds the time to get word back to us that he’s pulling for the Cougars and wishes them the best this season. Ladies and Gentlemen, we call it "Cougar Pride", and its time to show yours. On Friday, I'm going to be looking for people who are dressed up, painted up, and fired up. I'm looking for that group called the "Cougar Crazies" and expect them to be loud!! I'm going to be watching for those rec league players and want to hear them yelling for the team. I'm coming to the game with 10 copies of a DVD that any Cougar fan would LOVE to have, and I'm going to be giving them out to those crazy fans. I'm going to be getting some pictures of those crazy fans too, because I know SFC Thompson and all the other folks from this area who are deployed around the world can look at this web page and see them. Ya'll give them something to look at, and show them we haven't forgotten what Cougar Pride is all about!! Let's fill up that stadium and make some noise!! Its time for Cougar Football Baby!!

GO COUGARS!! BEAT THE PATRIOTS!!!!