Jambor...D!

The Cougars finished second to Soquel in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League jamboree on August 29. However, after some unkowns coming in, the Cougars came out with some confidence from their strong play, especially on defense. Here a couple of observations from the four scrimages played in the fog.

*The billowing smoke from the BBQ must have been at least a little bit distracting to the players waiting for their next scrimmage. The hot dogs coming off the Cabrillo College BBQ were as good as they smelled.

*Except for his number, junior Patrick Salibi could have been mistaken for his older brother Philip (A 2007 grad) on a 52-yard catch and run touchdown against Aptos. Salibi, at quarterback to start the scrimmages, showed that if he's not the one who wins the QB job will contribute in other ways on offense.

*Hit of the night: Middle linebacker Robert McKissock filled the hole against an Aptos running back and drove him back four yards before de-cleating him and smashing him to the ground.

*Play of the night: One play, especially, got a rousing cheer from the Cougar bench and coaching staff. Outside linebacker Bradley Hill made a perfect break on a short pass pattern in the right flat, knocking the ball away with his left hand and delivered a big hit on the reciever at the same time.

*With the ball in his hands, Beau Gregory always seems to fall forward for an extra two yards.

Jamboree Schedule

Here's a link to the schedule for tonight's Varsity Jamboree at Cabrillo College. Harbor and St. Francis open up the series of 12-minute scrimmages at 6 p.m.

We'll get a first taste of the Cougars defense at 6:39 p.m. against the Pirate offense and then after a 12 minute rest, flip over to offense against Harbor at 7:05 p.m.

The Cougars will defend against Aptos at 7:18 and then, in their final scrimmage of the evening, go up against Aptos' defense.

A quick tip: Bring a jacket and a blanket. Even though it's still August, the bleachers at Cabrillo are made of metal and when the fog rolls in, it gets chilly!

Tics are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for students and $2 for kids 6-12.

It's only potential until the first kickoff

It's easy to define a person by what they do. You count money, you're a banker. You flip burgers at Mickey D's, you're a fast food pro. You milk cows at 4:24 a.m. you're either crazy or you're a farmer.

It's a little harder to define a person by what they're not. If you can't lift 50 pounds, you let Brown do for you. If you can't swim, you won't be rubbing sun tan lotion on your arms from a watch tower at the pool. If you can't type at 70 words a minute, you won't be found within 100 yards of Bill Gates.

The most difficult, and perhaps the most interesting, is to define someone by their potential, or who they could be. How can we predict the future? We can't, that's what makes the concept of potential, or "the might" so intriguing.

So what's the point of this discussion?

Simple. It's that sense of anticipation of the potential of each player before the high school football season.

The players at SLV struggle for three years to prepare themselves for their senior seasons. Then it's upon them - there's no doubt whose time it is to shine - it's time for the seniors to fill their potential and define their high school careers.

Tomorrow, August 29, (at the Varsity Jamboree) will be the first time each senior can turn long hours pumping iron in the weightroom and running wind sprints from the might be, to feats that help the team succeed.

In honor of each's potential this season, here is a list of the seniors on the 2008 Cougar squad, all 27 of them:

Vince Bruni, Ryan Lopez, Bradley Hill, Beau Gregory, Nick Bergeron, Kyle Sherman, Bryce Harbert, Cameron Bruce, Austin Stiles, Nick Brown, Matthias Anderson, Tyler Green, Ian Adams, Robert McKissock, Sean Conner, Alec Gonzales, Nolan Pfyl, Devin Lee, Tucker Brofft, Travis Holm, Kyle Unger, Alex Silverman, Haakon Langmo, Inoke Finau, Luke Lange, Will Mince, and Will Lawton.