Are You Ready For Some Football?

Football is here!

The Dolphins had their first home pre-season game for 2011 against the Carolina Panthers... I was a little nervous to be taking Toa with me because you never know what this kid is going to do :)

The game started at 7:30pm, Ray has to be at the stadium 3 hours prior to the game though. We only have the one car, and I did NOT want to be at the stadium with Toa for 8 hours. It would just be too long, too hot, plus it was raining like crazy all day. So we just got a driver to take us to the game around 7, which was perfect. Toa had so much fun. He danced, cheered, ran around like a mad man and had such a good time. He was quite the show stopper in the family section. He was flirting with all the wives, showing off and giving them kisses, and hugs and when we were going up the stairs for the twentieth time, he was dancing like crazy and had the whole family section cheering for him! He was too cute! Just very busy.

Ray had an outstanding game. He did a great job, had a few pancake blocks {pancake block is knocking your opponent on his back} and made some great holes for the running back to run behind him. I always like watching ray pull {pulling is when the running back runs behind Ray while Ray clears the path for yardage. He's like the bodyguard knocking down guys so his guy can make a touchdown}

 The bad thing with offensive linemen is they get NO kinda glory. If they do good and make good holes, the running back gets the glory. If they make amazing blocks that give the QB all the time in the world, it's the QB who gets the glory. However, if anything goes wrong, it's always blamed on the offensive line.

These guys are the unsung heroes who work their butts off to protect their QB and their RBs.

 There's really  no way of keeping stats with the OL either..and you have to be a smart football player to be a O-linemen. You have to know every position on the field, who is going where, when they're supposed to go and about 10 million different plays which include 10 million different names. When Ray studies, it seriously is mind boggling. The play book is a good 7 inches thick, plus you need to know how to read the defense as well. It's a hard job. I'm always very proud of the OL and they're such a good group of guys here. Humble, down to earth etc. None of them are flashy. They're all pretty quiet guys who like to camp and fish and drive big pick up trucks. 

 It was a perfect night for a perfect night game. The rain had cleared and there was a slight breeze. I was able to watch a little bit of the game in between chasing Toa around. I love watching my husband play. It just makes me happy.. {and nervous, to be honest} you just want them to always do good. No injuries, no penalties, no wrong moves. It's always a fun and stressful event mixed into one!

Toa loves his Daddy! Good job babe...

 Toa and Uncle Paul.. we love that Paul and Ray play together. It's nice to have family here!

 Our friends Sam, lil Paul and Ray.. They are die-hard Dolphin fans!!