The Wildcats were fired up for our first game against Western Oregon over the weekend. You can only practice against your own team for so long before you start to go crazy. Especially going against our defense which seems to run every blitz known to football and a few others that aren’t. So finally getting to step onto the field against a different color jersey was a great relief, made all the sweeter by the margin of victory. WOU answered on their first drive to knot things up at 7, mostly riding their monster tight end. Our defense made their necessary adjusments and from then on, it was all ‘cats. The offense scored on all but 2 of our possessions; punting once and turning the ball over on downs at the end of the game.

The defense came up big with 5 turnovers, two inside the 3 yard line while WOU was threatening. The first was a pic by DE Brandon Tom at the 1 and the second a fumble recovery by DE Jeff Denney at the 3. And the reward for building a large lead is the opportunity to watch younger guys play. Many were able to play almost all of the 4th quarter and moved the ball pretty well.

This week we have Wisconsin Stevens Point which should prove a much more formidable challenge. Last year they played us tough the whole way, leading for 3 quarters. We started working hard from the start of the week, including our typical monday recovery day so we’ll be in top form come saturday.

The team has been presented with an awesome opportunity for next spring. We have been contacted to possibly play in Vienna Austria after the school year as part of their professional league’s preseason. It would be a 9 day trip, 5 spent travelling to different cities in Austria. Around 80 guys expressed serious interest and we’ll begin fund raising soon.

Speaking of fundraising, many different groups around the country have been collecting and donating money for the gulf states and Linfield is no exception. We asked all the guys to donate whatever they felt appropriate which resulted in approximately $550. Not bad for an impromptu effort. Other groups on campus are doing their own events including an on-campus concert Wednesday night.

It is often in times of great hardship and tragedy that people’s true characters are revealed. Many people are great people when everything is going right. It is when life gets hard that you find out who is truly strong. Which is another reason why I believe football and athletics in general to be extremely valuable. You learn how to handle challenges and adversity. Everyone will face hardships in life, but it is how they respond that will determine their success.

Saturday marked a big day for Fitchburg football. For the six of us players that came in four years ago with the new coaching staff, Saturday was the first time that we won our opener. Saturday was also revenge for two losses last year.

In all my years of playing football I have never seen a player dominate a football game the way our senior linebacker Frank Famularo did on Saturday. Frank has been a leader from the first day he arrived at Fitchburg, and has been a captain for three seasons. Since Aug. 19, when we came in to camp Frank has been stressing one thing, to take care of business against Curry.

“Take care of business,” is exactly what Frank did on Saturday — 15 tackles (13 solo) and a pick for a touchdown is a great day for any player, but more importantly Frank was our leader. 85 players and coaches went to battle on Saturday afternoon. Frank by far stood out as the heart and soul of our team.

There was something, however that did not go well. We had three kicks blocked — two field goals and an extra point. It was very aggravating and we need to work hard this week to improve on that part of the game. Special teams are very important to our success and we need to take advantage when we can get the points.

Today is September 11, 2005, 4 years after the tragedy of 9/11/01, so I feel that today is a good day to talk a little about the important things outside of football. Fitchburg football doesn’t employ any full-time coaches. We have a collection of hard working guys that know the game and want to teach the game they love. Our staff consists of a nurse, a recreation director, two teachers, two correction officers, a traveling coach, a cop, and a firefighter, all of which make very large contributions to society.

Our head coach is a firefighter and his hard work and dedication along with that of the rest of the coaching staff is something that us players appreciate very much. Coach loves football and he makes sure that we all know by the time and effort he puts into making sure that we are successful, but I don’t think he would change his profession for anything. I have been able to get close to coach Haverty and when he speaks of being a firefighter you can hear the proudness in his voice. I have often heard him tell people how his father and his grandfather were both firefighter and that it is very important to him.

It is days like today September 11, when we need to appreciate what others do on a daily basis. Thank you to everyone out there who either puts there own lives in jeopardy, or helps to make someone else’s life better.