Man, capturing the whole Capital City High School football season hustle? Let me walk you through how I tackled it.
The Setup Chaos
Kicked things off back in August by grabbing this battered blue notebook – my main stat tracker forever. My pencil box rattled like crazy when I shoved it into my backpack alongside my phone charger. Charging that phone became my lifeline because filming games with juiced storage was non-negotiable.
Friday Night Grind
Those autumn Friday nights? Pure magic and pure exhaustion. Snagged the same wobbly spot on those freezing metal bleachers week one. Shivered while scribbling down every damn play:
- That time Johnson bulldozed through three defenders for a touchdown? Scrawled it so fast my pencil ripped the page.
- Watched Coach Barnes pacing, chewing his gum like it personally wronged him during that double-overtime nail-biter.
- The JV kicker’s winning field goal against Central? My shaky phone video caught the crowd absolutely exploding.
Stuck in the Data Bog
After week six, staring at my stats felt like wading through waist-deep mud. Tried tossing numbers into spreadsheets on that ancient laptop. Halfway through, realized I mixed up Jackson with Jefferson for running yards. Crumpled paper hit my trash can, missed. Thought about just dumping the numbers altogether – maybe just do a hype reel? But nah, felt wrong quitting.
Wrestled that beast all weekend. Called up Coach Davies for corrections – got his voicemail. Emailed the Athletic Director – crickets. Finally cornered Davies Tuesday at school, him stuffing his face with a sandwich. Got it all sorted though. Patted myself on the back later with cold pizza.
Cutting the Highlights Sausage
Editing the highlights reel? Started feeling like stuffing sausage. Had like a million clips:
- Thesen’s insane one-handed catch? Top tier, obviously got the prime spot.
- Picked that shot of the sophomore lineman celebrating – arms stretched wide under the field lights – total goosebumps moment.
- Struggled HARD cutting down that epic fourth-quarter defensive stand sequence. Took like three hours just for that chunk.
Ready? Set. Post.
Finally slapped it all together Monday night. The spreadsheet stats locked in. The video edits finalized. That feeling hitting publish? Pure relief washing over me mixed with leftover tiredness. Done. Finito. Passed out kinda proud. Another season in the books.