Saturday, September 16, 2006

And All Shall Know The Name Sunbum

and shall tremble in mortal fear before her!

This is my eldest daughter, Sunbum, in whom I am well pleased. Today marked the beginning of flag football season and Sunbum's debut as the only girl on her team. Don't let that congenial smile fool you, she's a defensive force to be reckoned with.

The Coach psyched out her team at practice last week with tales of how skilled and cohesive the opposing team had grown since the same kids played summer league together. The Coach held out little hope of victory but encouraged the kids to try their best. My heart sank when I saw that the players were issued team shirts with "Texans" emblazoned across them. Bad omen. Undeterred, the kids went ahead and confidently named their team, "Invincible." Good omen.

Sadly, her very first chance to run with the ball, Sunbum found herself taken down by the only girl playing for the other team. She rebounded though, and made two huge interceptions, a couple successful passes, and proved instrumental in some good old fashioned flag pulling. One boy fell prey to Sunbum and not only lost his crimson red flag in the ensuing struggle, but also his entire belt. Yep, she's definitely defense material.

Final Touchdown Score: 4 to 1. "Invincible" certainly lived up to their team name! I pinned all my early retirement hopes on the athletic prowess and buttloads of money earning potential of my two sons. Maybe it's time to redirect that goal onto my daughter. NFL...... here she comes!

9 comments:

elasticwaistbandlady said...

Standing at nearly 5'3 and 135 pounds, Sunbum is undoubtedly an 11 year old alpha female. I still think her career will be relegated to flag status only, and nothing more physical.

jams o donnell said...

I am not familiar with flag football. How do you play it? I am always impressed by players who are good defenders as they never get the adulation that forwards/strikers etc get.

I am not sure what happened to me when I put on a football (soccer) shirt. I couldn't score a goal to save my life, my ball control skills were not good but if you wanted someone with bulk and speed (when a teen, not now!) who could take on a striker and sometimes leave them unhurt the I was the choice!

DO women play football (american) much? Is there a womens professional league?

elasticwaistbandlady said...

Flag football is played similar to regular football but they supplant the pulling of Velcroed flags of a player rather than tackling to end a play. There are no field goals or kickers either, and no designated field positions. Players are rotated to get a feel for everything, offense AND defense.

Scariest thing? A 200 pound 10 year old boy. His Mom seemed quite proud of his girth too. WTH? He couldn't play more than 5 minutes at a time because the coach thought he would drop dead of heat stroke in the 90 degree weather. Looking at him though makes me glad that this is a relatively non contact sport. Not that my Sunbum is any junior petite, mind you, but she looks like a fragile flower next to Goodyear boy.

Elizabeth-W said...

Your daughter's logo is the same is our local high school's, only our colors are blue and green. It really monkeyed with my head for awhile when the new high school was built b/c I kept seeing these Houston Texans logos all over the place. Bizarre. I guess that sort of stuff can be bought, because I sincerely doubt it was outright stolen.

Super Happy Girl said...

Sunbum is taller than me.
At 11 years old she can probably kick my behind. I shall not play flag football with her.
I do not mess with neither Texas nor Invincible kids.

elasticwaistbandlady said...

The Texans logo is full of bull! The nice thing is that our team doesn't suffer alone. EVERYBODY received the same shirt. It's reversible, so one week she's black and the next, white. Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony. Not to mention tan thrown in there too.

You don't want none of this, no cool story! Sunbum is actually very nurturing off the field, and is practically the second mom around here.

Lyle said...

Texas= Football for everone. Tackle, flag, pee-wee, highschool, college, pro...gotcha covered.

wendela said...

Good for Sunbum! I used to love flag football when I was a kid. I, too, would be scared by a 200 lb 10 year old! :)

elasticwaistbandlady said...

Hi LYLE; Comrade of pottymouth! Fall and Winter In Texas: Live, breathe, eat football. Repeat.

wendela, I'm overweight and Sunbum is a little bit too, can you imagine crowing proudly about it? Jim Morrison really was a Prophet, "People are strange."