Two-A-Days
Coach Cutting used to call them “Double Sessions.”
My introduction came a couple of weeks before my sophomore year of high school officially started. We were called into a moldy locker room, given some surplus pads from the top of the pile, and told to report for duty until further notice at 9am on the local practice field.
What followed was not one, not two, but really three different practices.
Over a 9-5 day.
In the 100+ degree Boston August.
Luckily enough, it was now the 90s, and it was ok to drink water now. Yay.
Before that, drinking water between plays was seen as a mark of weakness. Along with taking a break after a ‘real bell-ringer’ (aka concussion).
Ah, the good old days.
Anyways.
As the bottom of the totem pole noob, it quickly became clear what my planned role would be for the upcoming season: punching bag
From 9-5, for two weeks, they had me line on “scout” team against our starting varsity Guard, Will Larson. Will was a captain of the team, a our monster middle linebacker, and basically ate sophmores for breakfast between snacks of bacon.
Strong “Ben Afleck from Dazed and Confused” vibes.
Anyway, my real introduction to Double Sessions came there.
Play, after play, after play, of getting my head beat in by Will.
Start the day on offense, he beats me up.
Rotate to defense, he’s diving the gap and beating me up.
Again and again.
Before I really knew what was happening, there was Will, blowing me up again.
That’s when I learned the meaning of double sessions. Not the literal skills you learn after 8hrs spent in the muggy New England sun. Not the muscles you build or the concussions you got. But the understanding of what it takes to sustain that punishment, and what you get in return: the understanding of yourself, and what it means to know you are capable of getting your head beat in over and over, and never giving in.
It also taught me the meaning of what is now of my favorite aphorisms:
Practice Like You Play
The idea that you if your practice is lining up for 8hrs against someone with 2yrs and 40lbs on you - all of a sudden - gameday doesn’t feel that bad.
With that in mind, and with inspiration from many of the greats who have come before us, we’re going to try to make this a daily ramble for a bit.
We might not make it everyday, but we’re going to try.
We might not always have interesting things to say, but we’re going to try.
We might not always have great charts, but we’re going to try.
There almost certainly will be typos, but you can bet, I’m going to sure do my darndest to clean em.
Until tomorrow. Good luck out there.