My body has traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Friday night football


Cole started playing football in the 2nd grade, before most of the kids on his current team (different school district). It was iffy at the time, you know moms not so sure of their little boy playing football.
But it was love at first tackle. It's been a high point and anchor for him through some very trying years. But something about the controlled anarchy and of course the chance to crush someone within the rules (hmm, stickfighting?).
This will be his 10th and senior year and possibly his last. Yes at Stanford he could be a walk-on but would that be worth it.

Leading the team song after a win


Friday night was a great night for him (#44). Doubleteamed most of the first 1/2 (the other teams watched film and knew already) but he still wreaked havoc. Then in the 2nd 1/2 he really lit them up. Blocked a punt that set up the first score for the team and really changed the course of the game. Then went on to rack up solo and assisted tackles.
Came down to the final 25 seconds and a win. An extremely happy team. The only other two times I can remember seeing him this happy was getting his 34 on ACT's and winning Worlds in the PI.


And, he made the paper the next day too boot.
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/footballfever/x1985976034/Hamilton-rallies-past-Byron-Center-with-trick-play

Hamilton rallies past Byron Center with trick play.
By ALAN BABBITT
The Holland Sentinel
Posted Sep 18, 2010 @ 12:30 AM
Hamilton, MI — The Hamilton football team refers to the play as “Z Explosion.”

It can be called a season saver, too.

The Hawkeyes stunned Byron Center with a 14-13 win Friday at home, using a pass off a reverse for a 66-yard gain that set up running back Joey DeGood’s winning 1-yard touchdown plunge with 24.5 seconds remaining.

Hamilton evened its record at 2-2 overall with the thrilling OK Green Conference win. The Hawkeyes also kept their state playoff chances from flickering further.

PRIME PERFORMERS
• Cole Van Harn, Hamilton linebacker. The senior was a disruptive force at the line of scrimmage, blocking a punt to set up Hamilton’s first touchdown and making three tackles for loss.

• Nathaniel White and Mitch Klein, Hamilton receivers. The two executed Hamilton’s desperation trick play to perfection. White is the team’s backup quarterback, while Klein is not a regular on offense but was put there for the play.

• Cody Buresh, Hamilton defensive back. The senior blocked a critical extra point after Byron Center’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter with 5:34 remaining in the fourth quarter. It paid big dividends when Skylar Sale kicked the go-ahead PAT five minutes later.

TURNING POINT
Sitting 1st-and-10 at its 25-yard line with 1:51 remaining, Hamilton stood 75 yards from the end zone and had barely produced that much on offense for the entire game. The left-handed White took a pitch, reversed field and tossed a perfect strike down field. Klein caught the ball and was tackled at the Byron Center 9-yard line. Three plays later, DeGood ran in the end zone to tie the score.

KEY STAT
149 — Number of yards Hamilton produced against Byron Center. Half of them came during the Hawkeyes’ final scoring possession.

SCORING SUMMARY

BC 0 7 0 6—13
H 0 0 7 7—14
Second quarter
BC — Derek Sievers 5 run (Charlie Wait kick), 14.7
Third quarter
H — Joey DeGood 4 run (Skylar Sale kick), 7:42
Fourth quarter
BC — Sievers 3 run (kick blocked), 5:34
H — DeGood 1 run (Sale kick), 24.5


WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“We said we’re going to go empty, try to chuck it and see if we can get the ball down the field. We really worked at that play. It keeps our season alive.” — Hamilton coach Chris Myers

“We work on blocking kicks a little bit. If we see a point, we try to capitalize on it. It’s just us going hard like we know how to do.” — Hamilton senior Cole VanHarn

“It’s a big turnaround for us.” — Hamilton receiver Mitch Klein

BOTTOM LINE

Hamilton still is struggling to get its offense moving, but the Hawkeyes came up with the clutch play they needed to bounce back from a 42-14 loss to Zeeland East. Hamilton now goes on the road for the first time next week at Wyoming Rogers.


Copyright 2010 The Holland Sentinel. Some rights reserved








And my Dad and Norma were able to be there along with Roberta's dad.
My dad's been in poor health all summer but got some encouraging news from the heart specialist that same day so he was able to make what was a very exciting night.




















Thursday, September 9, 2010

Mushtaq's Birthday Bash

Headed off to Mushtaq's for our weekly training and mayhem session Sunday
However this week was a bit different, it being his birthday.
Janet planned for guests to arrive shortly after our training finished so Roberta came along and so did Cole. Cole's pretty busy since College dual enrollment already started but with it being Mushtaq's birthday he would not be denied.
And a birthday is a thin enough excuse to break out the pointy things and execute the water bottles.




Chris also built a throwing apparatus for tomahawk and knife throwing to be used at the tournament in Chicago. It's now installed at Mushtaq's for a while.



This photo would atcually be Roberta's first throwing success.







You can be sure when Mushtaq's friends gather round, the food is phenomenal.


One of the prizes Cole won at the tournament was a Cold Steel Finn Wolf Knife. Figured I might as well try it out.




Mushtaq also taught Cole how to put a good edge on one of his tournament prizes. Pretty good job I'd say.




This one tried to escape so Chris pinned him down first




Now this is a Balisong. Got it back in 04 but never actually cut with it before, LOL




Now hold still





and Cole says "that's all"

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Hope College Community day











What's that Style, you love Dutchmen?











Since Cole could possibly be attending Hope, my alma mater, and playing football for them next fall, we thought it would be fun to take in the annual community day festivities.


For $8 you get tickets to 4 college sporting events and the picnic. the college puts it on every year as a way to build relationships with the community.



And even better, we got tickets free as one of Cole's teammates is the son of one of the coaches and he offered to get free tickets as a recruiting function (yes, they're recruiting him).


They usually hold it in October if I remember but I think they moved it up to September for warmer weather. Who'd know they picked a weekend where blustery low '60s weather would blow in.


It was still good fun.
.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Chicago 2010 pics

Thought I had posted these but they didn't come through.
Here's some pics from the tournament previously mentioned.





No hitting below the belt!!











Navadisha is a fairly private system but some things need to be done publically so we figured the tournament was a good place.

Chris receiving his Protector rank in Navadisha





Cole receiving Assistand Instructor Rank. Cole also received a certificate in Krav maga from Chris.






My Senior Instructor rank



Cole and Chris, winners (survivors) of Combat Knife.






Jeepney Buffey at Little Quiapo restuarant








Oh yeah, Halo Halo!








Our seminar portion on Saturday.