It’s a new season and the gridiron action is heating up, the spotlight is on and all eyes are focused on the rising star as the home team breaks the huddle.  It’s 3rd down and 8 in one of the biggest games of the season. The game is on the line but more over, the season is on the line. The defense is tough!  What do you do?  Do you make the playoffs or do you head off to Disneyland on an early vacation?  These are the moments that make or break you, so, you quickly weigh the options.

Do you run a play action pass or how about a draw play up the middle, maybe end around, or maybe go big and throw down field on the fly route?. The options are wide open.  If you are not a football fan maybe these terms don’t resonate, so I will bring it back to center, they are all choices of risk and reward.  Why the hell am I writing any of it is the real question, I hate football, right?

I’m at Cow Creek Campground on Green Mountain Reservoir, Heeney Colorado. Home of the World Famous Heeney Tick Fest. Well it used to be, anyway.  Conveniently, they eradicated all the ticks and the festival years ago. The snow covered peaks of the Gore Range are absolutely beautiful and I have a fresh cup of coffee that I just poured off a steaming pot from the camp kitchen stove. I have been pondering the game of life.  A game full of choices and each has a measure of risk and reward. I have had my share of ups and downs, thats for sure…probably took more risks than I should have and have become quite the “ArmChair Quarterback” for those in my small huddle.

Today, it seems we all star in our own personal super bowl quoting from the easy chair like an all-knowing analyst on Sunday Morning; “Oh that was stupid”  “Why didn’t he…Really? C’mon”  “That was never going to work”  “You got it all wrong!” (somebody actually said that to me recently).

Face it, we all do it.  But, what if you are the coach and the game is on the line or better yet, your job is on the line? The play works and you are the hero, and if not, you are the goat!

A million things rattle around the cage before you make a decision. The pressure is real and you do the best you can with the information you have in the moment. On Sunday, I am the armchair quarterback passing judgement from the safety of my favorite easy chair, and after the game, I try  hard to leave my helmet and shoulder pads on the coffee table.

Oh…. forgot to mention, we are taking a little break again next week to refill the gatorade bottles before winter….we will be back in two weeks.  😉