Boarding schools -- Juvenile fiction; Football stories; School sports -- Juvenile fiction; Teenage boys -- Juvenile fiction
“What was wrong to-day can be corrected to-morrow,” he ended. “I’m not
expecting you fellows to play perfect football yet. I’m satisfied if
you realize your mistakes when you make them, and I think you do. You
won’t make me mad until you make the same mistakes the second time――or
the third. When a player knows he’s wrong there’s hope for him: when
he can’t see it, he’s useless. Some of you fellows showed real stuff
to-day. You, Jackson, for one. You mixed only one signal, and you kept
your team on the jump. And Ridgway held the center nicely. And two or
three others of you deserve a good word; Bingham, for instance. There
was no one within two yards of him when he got that ball after the
blocked kick. Remember, fellows, that every loose ball has ‘Touchdown’
written on it in big red letters! Patch, you’d better let Farrell see
that hand. Looks rather like a dislocation from the swelling. We’ll
try to get started at two to-morrow, fellows, so that we can see some
of the game. I want every one of you to watch the First Team players
carefully every chance you get. Keep your eye on the men you’ll play
against and see where they’re weak. And try to guess the plays before
they start. Watch the backs and see what you can learn from the way
they stand. Some players will give away the play time and again if you
know the language of signs!”
Clif wasn’t nearly as excited over his father’s visit on the morrow as
he had expected to be. Of course he was awfully glad he was coming, and
he wanted to see him a whole lot and there were loads of things he had
saved up to tell him, but he went to sleep that Friday night as soon
as his head touched the pillow and awoke the next morning to only the
mildest thrill. Mr. Bingham rolled up the drive in the blue car about
one o’clock, and Clif, who had hurried through his dinner, was awaiting
him at the steps. Mr. Bingham said “Hello, son,” very casually, and
Clif grinned, and said “Hello, dad” in much the same tone. But they
shook hands very hard and, after the car had been parked at the end
of the drive, they made their way to Number 17 with the older man’s
arm about the boy’s shoulder. Clif was a little bit conscious of that
arm as they passed the recreation room and Office, but he carried
off the situation gracefully. If any of the fellows they met felt
any inclination toward ridicule Clif’s sharp eyes failed to detect
the fact. Generally what he read on their passing countenances was
admiration for that well-built, handsome, smiling father of his, and
Clif forgot his momentary embarrassment and was proud and pleased.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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