Patriots' Game night Friday, August 26
In the corner of the blue carpet room, concrete-enclosed, a whistle giant floor fan, pushing the air around the sweat odored. The locker room stinks, but at least it's air conditioned. Somehow. It's better than being out at the end of the day, the sun of late August in New Orleans. Thus, the Patriots of John Curtis Christian School, more than a hundred of them, lying in the damp room with missing ceiling tiles and funky smells. It contains hardly any.
The floor is littered with broken shoulder pads, socks, spools of athletic tape, Adidas sneakers, and the Croc rubber red or blue moccasins the players wear in the showers. A quote hand-painted on a piece of plywood that has led and pasted on the wall reads, Winners focus on winning, losers focus on the A.
They are trading gossip, razzing each other about girls, or arguing about what to expect from tonight's opponent, All Fired Up for a new season and the beginning of a new school year on Monday. A multiracial, multicultural gumbo of children throughout the city and suburbs, they are the son of rich and just scraping by, they are thin stringers third and ninth grade oversized, muscular seniors starting, and they 'are all united in the desire to have the powerful John Curtis Patriots yet another state championship this year. Some boys sitting alone on stools, headphones blocking noise. Others are huddled in a corner trying to nap, while agreeing on some pre-game rituals, their heads were ready to play.
Offensive guard Andrew Nierman, bruising six feet one inch, 300-pounds, ties the shoes of his good friend, defensive tackle Jonathan 325-Pound "Tank" English. Tank won his nickname in fourth grade, when he and Andrew dressed as army guys for Halloween. A snarky janitor told Jonathan, almost two hundred pounds even then, it looked like an army tank. In high school, he developed a bad habit of never tying his laces tight enough, so Andrew always tightens for him before the Games.
Tank and Andrew are both ambitious, determined son of hard working single mothers. Tank father died of a heart attack two years ago, after a decade of struggle against heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems. He was only forty-nine. Tank and his mother, Althea, who runs a day care center, most live in the African-American section of Kenner, a suburb west of River Ridge Reservoir and attended Curtis since the third year. Andrew, who argued with growing up biracial in a still largely segregated New Orleans, the shuttle thirty miles away, where he and his mother live alone. It has no relationship with this father, who retired years.
Andrew and the reservoir, both juniors, anchor line to the Patriots - Andrew on the offensive, tank defense. They are both knowledgeable, physical players who run faster than 300 guns have, and coaches are counting on each of them to play leadership roles this year. Off the field, their behavior is more preacher - Tank - and teachers - Andrew - platers bones that break. Tank is a hot man Happy-Go-Lucky-boy with a deep laugh and a melodious voice as smooth and soft as jelly. He leads his teammates in prayer before games and is a great motivator on the field. Andrew is a serious, studious and serious, with dark eyes and intense, a bookworm in beefy shoulder. It is one of the smartest children in school and dreams of attending a college graduate, maybe even Harvard.
Linebacker Mike Walker and quarterback Kyle Collura practice their handshake pre-game, a dance of the hand high five, low five, and a punch of his fist to fist. They intend to do after each touchdown this year. Mike and Kyle are also juniors get their first shot at full-time this academic year. Mike has a strong linebacker corps, but a face that the young pure, with suspenders, slightly.
Posted on May 4, 2010.
