Jaymin Jackson Spring Football Diary, Week 3

Linfield Linebacker Jaymin Jackson and his Wildcat teammates have wrapped up their 3rd and final week of Spring Football at the 'Catdome and with that comes Jay's final Diary entry. I want to thank #7 for taking the time to write down and share his thoughts on Spring ball and the upcoming season. Go 'Cats!
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Day 9

The word for today is Houdini. Today we showed up to practice a little earlier than expected, because coach emailed us saying that practice was going to run late and we need some extra work. As we laced up our cleats and waited for the whistle to start practice, coach told us to bring it in. We all hustled over to coach and he began to pass out maps. The maps were to the beach. He directed us to load up our cars with teammates and follow the maps. I had Nate Dixon in my Toyota pickup and we began the trek. I fueled up at the local shell gas station and we were on our way.

It was a beautiful drive along multiple rivers that lead us to this cove that coach new of. The name of it is slipping my mind but it’s known for surfing and the very large sand dune. After a very scenic 45min drive we all arrived at the location. Coach took his pick up onto the beach and unloaded his barbecue and a bunch of coolers full of pop and hot dogs. As coach was setting up, we ran some plays against each other on the beach. The wind was making the passing game hard for the quarterbacks. It was probably about 60 degrees but a steady wind kept things a little chilly.

Coach Smith led us to this rock wall. We had to get into 4 teams and the object was to get everyone to the top the fastest. Somehow my team had the four biggest guys on the team. Between Aaron Heston and Cheyne we had about 650 lbs of man to get up this wall. It was a very good time watching these small guys try and pull up these linemen. I am happy to say that no one fell from this wall and everyone completed the task. Shortly after we all caught our breath from this challenge, we walked along the cliff to this remote area overlooking the water. We took a quick team picture and it was time to climb the sand dune. As we got closer to this mountain the more of a vertical it got. I like to think that I am in good shape, but this task was very hard. After climbing this mountain of sand my thighs felt like Jello and my backside was on fire. My forearms and biceps were also experiencing great fatigue. After getting to the top and catching our breaths, we all started to head down.

The first person to fall victim to a face full of sand was Kevin Abbot. Kevin took off down the hill at a full sprint and his little ole legs couldn’t keep up with his body lol. Kevin made it about ¾ of the way down then his face decided it was hungry for some sand. Mr.Abbot went down like four flat tires. I give him credit; he did get right back up. Players on the team were crying including me. After seeing Kevin eat that sand burger everyone decided to take a more cautious approach on the way down. After going up and down the hill, it was time to eat. I have never seen so many hot dogs eaten in my life. I personally had 5, but I’m sure that wasn’t the most. As I was watching Ryan Henderson squeeze 4 hot dogs on a stick, I heard some yells. Looking over my shoulder I saw the Hawaiian boys making a run for the ocean. I don’t know if Ian Estrada and the boys were confused but that water isn’t the same as what they are used to. After a quick dip, they came sprinting back up towards the fire. By this time it was around 8’o clock and guys started to head out. This was a very fun time for us as a team.

Event like this are why I think that the Cats of 09 are going to be special. This team is very close and throughout the year we have been building a strong bond that can’t be broken. We are going to need to be a close unit to make it through the first part of the schedule which has us on 3 straight road trips. Beach trip 2009 was a success.

Days 10-12

I’m not going to spill the beans on the last three days but the cats were working on some top secret stuff. Get ready to see some surprises when the cats open up this season. Thank you for allowing me to fill all you die hard wildcats fans with what’s going on with the cats of 09. Just know were doing everything in our power to perform at our best. Catdome!

Jaymin Jackson
Class of 2010