Friday Night Lights quick hits

It's been three years since I wandered the sidelines, but the camera eye, skills and reflexes seem sharp, still.

And with that, a few hot takes from Zero Week.

Let's start with the first play of the game.

First, coaches of small high schools? Like 3A and 2A?

That "sprint my whole kickoff team up to the ball and have them stop on a dime before going into normal kickoff formation"?

Looked kind of cool 10 years ago.

It was already getting halfway passé 5 years ago.

Now? It's tired. And, if you're at a small school with a closely matched opponent and you're only fielding 25 players, you might just wear out enough of your team enough more to give up a late game-winning touchdown, or to run out of steam on a would-be winning drive of your own.

Also, to me, it makes you the head coach look like somebody who thinks "grit" and "willpower" will always win out, and if that doesn't work, then maybe you yelling at your players more.

You want to really show grit? Have somebody do pushups on the sideline for every yard of offense you gain on every play, or at least, every yard on defense you force the other offense back.

You want to show something better than willpower? Make sure your players are thinking of the game's flow better.

And, speaking of that?

At one of the two games I shot tonight, somebody called a timeout on defense in the first half when the team was already out. I didn't catch who, whether it was one of the players or a coach on the sidelines, as I was already locking in on my camera when the whistle blew. It was, IIRC, on a fourth-down play, and it gave the team on offense a first down.

When I heard the whistle and saw the flag, then saw the crossed arms, I knew why the delay of game call was made. If this was made by a coach, you certainly should have. If it was made by a player? Isn't this why coaches, especially on defense, at the high school level, keep control of time-out calling themselves?

Third, are coaches really getting that wussy with rain?

I mean, moving a HOME game off your grass field because of a medium, but not heavy, North Texas rain that stopped about 4 hours before game time, just as the weatherman predicted, to move to a neutral site with turf? If it rains like this in two weeks (or three, or four) are you going to look for a turf field again when you know the nearest one remains verboten to you?

A collegiate friend of mine, when softball or baseball opponents looked to walk, said "Swing the bat or wear a dress."

Well?

"Play the mud bowl or wear a dress."

Maybe Dave Campbell's Texas Football and/or Texas Bob, since they're now some sort of partners, could put an asterisk next to such a team's home schedule in future years, at least on non-district games.

And that's your quick Zero Week take from this corner of the world.