Ring Side...

To me it is a privilege to be a part of the Bronco Football chain gang.

We take it seriously, but have a lot of fun while we’re out there. The weather lately has been a bit on the frigid side, but hand and foot warmers and layers help quite a bit.

When both teams get a lot of first downs we get to run the sideline and that keeps us warm as well.

We’ve seen a lot of great plays up close and personal, and we’ve visited with some referees that have some interesting personalities.

When it comes to the players and coaching staff, I think we all have our personal opinions as to who we thought did a good job or had a lot of respect for and could actually visit with.

There are a lot of interesting philosophies that coaches use and when the right group of players is involved, good things can happen. But there are a few coaches that can put their team in difficult situations and actually make success an afterthought.

Early in the season, there was a team that ran a hurry-up offense with a lot of passing. Things were fine when the team gained yardage, but when yards were lost or there was a three and out he put a lot of pressure on his defense.

A hurry-up offense works well with talented players. But I think he would have done his team a favor by huddling up and taking time off the clock. This coach has been running this style for several years and obviously feels comfortable with it, but in my humble opinion he could do his team a favor by slowing things down and doing it right.

Amazingly, the coach I felt was the must upbeat and encouraging was from Springdale. He clapped and cheered his kids on whenever they made a play. These words of encouragement came from a guy whose team didn’t win a game all season.

At halftime this coach came up to us and apologized for supposedly getting in the way of the chain gang. I honestly don’t remember him being a problem or in the way. I told him not to worry about it because his job was more important than ours was. And truthfully he had a very difficult task indeed and he gave it everything he had.

There was a coach from another school that I will not name who was a royal pain. He did not want to move and glared at us whenever we were nearby. I even heard him say a few things not so complimentary about the chain crew to his coach in the press box.

This guy didn’t have much respect for the rules either since at least three times he crossed the 25-yard line and was closer to the 20 for most of those plays. I was really hoping the referee would have at least warned the guy that he was out of his area and needed to go back to the 25 or he would be penalized, but it didn’t happen.

One of the officials in this game did have a pretty good sense of humor. After one touchdown in particular he came to the sideline and pretended to be a basketball big guy and posted up the small referee. Then he started trash talking the other official. It was funny to watch this 250-pound guy bounce around having a good time. I went to a football game and a comedy routine broke out!

Most of the referees and coaches are good to work with, and having a spot on the field where a short guy like me can see the entire game without jumping up and down or looking around a dozen people as the play goes down the sideline is fantastic.

I love being ring side for Bronco football games and think this is one of the best gigs ever.