Locker room talk

By Richard Tijerina
Caller-Times Sports Editor

George Tuley/Caller-Times

Each player has his or her own method of getting ready for a game. Some of these Moody football players prepare by relaxing, others by reviewing plays.

INSIDE A HIGH SCHOOL LOCKER ROOM - Brandon Collier closes his eyes and sees the colors. Swashes of blues and reds, the colors of helmeted opponents trying to stop him. And he sees himself crashing through them like a rock would tear through paper. He cuts to the inside, flashes his speed, sees the end zone ahead, and he's gone.
   Then he opens his eyes, and he is back in the Moody High School locker room.
   "Sometimes in the locker room," Banquete senior Eric Watkins said, "there are things we never say. But if you haven't played, you have no idea what goes on in here."
   Welcome to the high school locker room, the place where friendships are forged, game plans are made and re-made, tears are shed and memories are born.
   The locker rooms are all different, yet all the same. Rows of lockers, filled with countless jerseys and dreams through the years. The numbers and faces change, but so much never does.
   "Only ex-players understand," said Banquete senior Kevin Dueitt. "Even at Parents Night or Homecoming, when we're all taking pictures on the field, they wonder why we're not smiling. It's all about focus."
   Before the game, the locker room is the place where the players escape, either to their thoughts or fears, or both. It's the time to be by yourself, to play out every snap ahead of time, to live every play before the game has even started.
   At halftime, the locker room is the place where they figure out what they're doing right and are told what they can do better.
   And after the game, the locker room is the place where you go to either laugh or cry, or - sometimes - both. It can be a cold, unyielding, unforgiving room. Its walls tell no secrets. How many times have the walls of locker rooms, from Buccaneer Stadium to Banquete, heard the shouts, the cries, the yells? And felt the pain and the joy, the anger and the sadness?
   4:30 p.m.
   It is three hours before kickoff and the Moody locker room is buzzing. While many players sleep - on the floor, on each other, on benches - others eat apples and bologna sandwiches, or watch video of tonight's opponent, San Benito. It's quiet time.
   "OK," coach Steve Castillo says as he crosses the room, sometimes stepping over players, "you need to start blocking out all the Homecoming, all the other stuff and start thinking about what you need to do today."
   Then, he leaves. It's quiet time again. Collier remains on the bench in front of his locker, eyes closed.
   Around them are dozens of inspirational signs and posters: