The Diary of Fritz Brady (NCAA 08 Legend)

[wvufan]

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-- The Diary of Fritz Brady -- November 28, 2006 ---
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There's something happening that I'm not happy with, beside the whole Denise/Jimmy thing.

I was watching film of the last game against Poca ... y'know, the one I'm not really remembering much of, and I begin to notice something funny.

Firstly, I sucked. I don't know what happened or where I was, but I sure as heck wasn't really on the field mentally. I threw into coverage, didn't read for nothing, and held the ball too long. In any case, it's the 3rd quarter, and we're behind. I go back to pass, and throw about 25 yards in a floating pass to Neil Jones, the tight end. He reached up and caught it in stride. Nice gain, which gave us a much needed 3rd down conversion and led to the go-ahead score.

Trouble is, I overthrew the pass the he caught it I SWEAR a good two-three feet past the white line. The ref was right there, and called it a legit catch. Y'know, that's fine; bad calls happen -- I should be glad, since it helped us out. But this is the same ref who called two pass interferences calls on Poca, and neither one was a good call. And both happened when we were losing.

My friend Kristy says she's gonna get me copies of the game videos for the next game against Barboursville since we can't take home the originals. She can do it too, since she is the one who shoots the videos.

I bring this up to Coach Richmond, but he dismisses it. I then tell my dad, who changes the subject, but not before he insinuates that my pain killers might be affecting my judgement, both on this and the Denise thing. He's the one who got 'em for me to begin with, and wouldn't let me to go to the doctor. He's got no room to blame them for anything, since they are the only reason I can make it through the day in one piece.

I dunno, I just feel very uneasy about the whole thing.

[wvufan]

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--- The Diary of Fritz Brady -- December 1, 2007 ---
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The picture above is of Roddy Parsons as he scores the winning touchdown in double overtime. Aside from being the hero on the field, he was a hero off it too.

Kristy told me she wasn't taking film of the game, but she'd be on the sideline taking some video and pictures from there. She said she'd still get me the video, though, in case there's more wierd stuff going on in the game.

Anyway, when my dad a few days ago said it could be the pain meds that were affecting me, I decided to cut down the pills I took before the game, but I took them with me in case the pain got too bad. So, I started the game out ok, but I threw a pick when I tried to force it to Jones, the tight end. Mayfield was wide open, but I'm not throwing it to him.

Anyway, the coach gave me an earfull when I got to the sideline, and Mayfield then came up and said he was open. I ignored him.

Next drive ended pretty quick. Barboursville was pretty good, and they were laying back for me, getting into a nickel, sometimes a dime. Their front line was good enough to stop Roddy in the beginning, so we couldn't move the ball.

Our defense stopped them pretty good too. First quarter ended with 0-0 tie. Then the flood gates open.

I throw another pick -- this one got returned to the 20, and they drove it in the next play. 7-0 Barboursville.

Next drive, the corner on Mayfield slips, and he jaunts wide open down the field. I ALMOST instinctively toss it to him, and it would have been a easy touchdown too; had I thrown it to him. Instead I get sacked because I held the ball too long. We punt the ball, and it gets returned to the 10 yard line. Our defense hold, and it's 10-0.

Coach Richmond is so mad that he won't even look at me. Mayfield grabs me by the shoulder and twists me around and asked me what's going on. I say a single word. "Denise", and the look on his face tells the rest of the story.

In any case, we do nothing on the last drive. Three and Out. They get the ball back, and a 25 yard TD pass later, and the half ends with us down 17-0.

End of the game, right?

So we get to the locker room, and Coach Richmond starts throwing trash cans. He starts on the line, who have played for crap (I've been sacked 3 times so far), and then he goes to the wideouts, and that's when it starts.

"Coach, he won't throw to me because of a girl."
I stand right up and start to walk towards him.
"You're messing around with my girlfriend! Why should I throw to you?"
"Hey, man, if she's not getting what she needs from you ..."

That did it. I lunge for him, and he for me, and we get pulled apart by the players. Coach Richmond begins to say something, but gets interrupted by Roddy. He looks at Jimmy, walks up to him and says "that's f'd up. If this wasn't a playoff game, I'd lay you out myself. You end it with her. Tomorrow. If you don't, me and you are gonna have issues."

He then looks at me. "Fritz, what the hell's wrong with you? You're losing this game for a girl you don't even want to begin with. We've been friends since we were 4, and if you don't wake the hell up and start playing right, we're done. I mean it. This game is bigger than your stupid feud.".

He continues. "This is my last year, and maybe my last game here. I ain't going out this way because of some bitch.".

I was still mad, but I knew I had already changed my mind, and was gonna get Jimmy the ball the second half. Before I could say something, Jimmy looks at me and apologizes, sorta. He said it was f'd up that I didn't come to him about this, but he was wrong with messing with Denise. I nodded, and told him I'm gonna get him the ball and that he'd better be ready for it. Blah, blah macho stuff about beating asses tonight start, and we're ready for the second half.

Well, most of us are. My back is hurting, so I reach for my pills, and they're missing.

Someone took my pain pills.

[Bagel7]

Suspense, no?

[pauln353]

Hey man, keep it up. This is probably the best thread on here. You have a really good story going too. It's lots of fun to read.

[wvufan]

Originally Posted by marinerfan

Hey man, keep it up. This is probably the best thread on here. You have a really good story going too. It's lots of fun to read.

Thanks, man. I appreciate the kind words.

[wvufan]

placeholder.

[warriorqb8]

I've been out of town but I just caught up, you got a really cool story going on here. I can't wait for the next update.

[wvufan]

(Continuing the last entry)

I'm scrambling around, looking for the pill bottle. Maybe I forgot it, or dropped it on the way to the field, but I knew ... I KNEW someone had taken it. The only people who know about it is my Dad, Roddy and Kristy. Dad's in the stands, so there's no way he could have taken it. No reason why Kristy would, and that leaves Roddy.

He never was in favor of me taking the pills to begin with. In his words they lead to "Bad things.", but he wouldn't go any further, and didn't really push it. See, I NEED THEM to be able to function. I can't rotate my arm worth anything without it. But right after the big showdown with Jimmy, if I had another one with the guy who just got done defending me, it would make me look like a jackass.

"When we lose this game, Roddy," I thought to myself, "it's on your head". I go back on the field.

So, evidently the coach isn't too happy with me or Jimmy, so we start with some runs, and after 5 straight run plays, Roddy needs to get a breather, and this sophomore called Leonard Day comes on the field. He doesn't get alot of playing time because Roddy's pretty hardy (almost a rhyme there), but what he does with the ball ...

[media]http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=1130047630[/media]
So, it's a nice run, but we're still down 17-7. This is the perfect time for our defense to step it up too, and they shut them down cold for the remainder of the quarter. We don't move the ball much then either. But the pain is starting to get really bad, and I can't throw the ball for nothing. We go into the 4th quarter down by 10, 17-7.

Fairly early in the 4th, we're still down by 10, and the coach calls an all-streak play, basically our equivalent to a hail mary, in the hopes to catching the defense off-guard. So I take the snap, and I see, just for a second, Jimmy wide open, as the secondary doesn't have enough back to cover the set. I see him late, and I throw the ball as hard as I can. Tears are pouring down my face because of the pain. He makes a pretty great catch on a ball throw, and suddenly we're only down by 3.

I dunno if it was the adrenaline, but my back pain went away ...

[media]http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=1130068161[/media]
So, we're down by 3. We stop them again, and then we start a nice, methodical drive, that ends with Roddy going into the endzone with 2 minutes left in the game, up 21-17. We're riding high!!!

That is, until, they score on a 21 yard pass with 29 seconds left in the game. 24-21 Barboursville. We -- I have 29 seconds to drive down the field starting from the 32 yard line to get in field goal position. The coach looks at me and tells me this is my defining moment; this is where I show all the scouts in the stands that I am the best quarterback in the nation.

First pass, 19 yard gain to Jimmy to the 49 yard line. 21 seconds. Time Out.

Second pass, 6 yard pissy gain because everyone was covered. Wasted play. Time out from the 44 yard line. I need a good 20 yards still. 16 seconds left.

Third pass is incomplete. 11 second.

So, there's 11 seconds left, with 1 time out. I pretty much need to get into field goal position on this play because we have the save the time out to get the field goal team in.

So I snap the ball, and go back to pass, and I see Jimmy Mayfield on an out route and try to get the ball over his shoulder. He catches it just inside the 10 yard line, the ref signals it a catch, and the Barboursville sideline goes BALLISTIC. They say it wasn't a catch. They say he was out of bounds. Just like last week.

And here's the kicker (not literally, it's a figure of speech) -- IT'S THE SAME REF AS LAST WEEK who makes the call.

You be the judge.

[media]http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=1130068159[/media]
In any case, we kick the field goal with 3 seconds left, and we head to overtime. We get the ball first, and go right down for a score, caught by Jimmy again ...



They turn around and score again, and it's tied again, 31-31, going into a second overtime.

And our defense holds them to a field goal. Holy Hell we could actually win this game ...

In the second overtime, on a play designed to get us into a field goal position, since we can't move the ball well, Roddy Parsons becomes my personal hero ...

[media]http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=1130049126[/media]
We win. I'm tired, and NOW my back begins to hurt. And I need to find out who has my pills.

Later. Tonight, I want to celebrate. The drama can wait. We're going to the frickin' FINALS!

[wvufan]

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--- The Diary of Fritz Brady -- December 4, 2007 ---
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I called Roddy and talked to him today. He claims to not have taken the pills, but that he's glad someone did. He noted that my on the field performance improved dramaticaly when they wore off. I told him I couldn't do a whole game like that, that the only reason why I could do that last week is because of the comeback.

He said I was fooling myself. I said to him "I just need them for this last week, and that after that, my back could heal on it's own.". He told me he didn't know where my pills were.

I called Dad and told him I had lost the pills on the field, and he lit up. After yelling for a few minutes, he told me he'd take care of it. A few hours later, I had a new bottle full of relief. Still doesn't answer the question of who took my pills, though.

On the Jimmy/Denise front, I heard that Jimmy ended it with Denise in front of a whole bunch of people, and blamed her for us almost losing the game last week. He said and I quote "I can get any woman to do what you do, you're not worth me not getting my catches.". Nice to hear he has loyalty after all.

I looked at the tape of the catch that lead to the tying score, and the angle is bad, so I'm still not sure, although I'm leaning towards it not being a catch. Something is not right, and so I again go to Coach Richmond, who sits down and watches the play again.

He tells me that he's not sure if it was a catch or not, and that's telling. If he or I didn't know after watching a slow-motion replay after the fact, it's not surprising that the ref on the field might not know. He has a point, and if this was an isolated incident, I might let it drop, but this same ref, Percy Simmons, had done some other wierd calls before in my favor.

Kristy's a wanna-be journalist. I'll ask her to look into this for me.

[wvufan]

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--- The Diary of Fritz Brady -- December 7, 2006 ---
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I just got off the field in Morgantown. The stadium is HUGE, I cannot imagine the feeling of what it would be like to be running onto the field with 60,000 screaming people dressed in Mountaineer colors.

We're in Morgantown because the state championship game is being played tomorrow, here, against Weston. I get to play a football game on Mountaineer Field. Both my coach and my dad have told me that there will be a good number of scouts there to watch me.

Speaking of college, I got yet another offer before I left. This one was both in a letter and a phone call from Dave Wahnstadt, the head coach of Pitt (and formerly of the Miami Dolphins, the same teams my hero Dan Marino played for), telling me my style of play is perfect for what he is trying to set up for the Panthers. He told me flatly that I would redshirt the first year (something the other schools haven't, although I'm sure I'd redshirt on every team except maybe Marshall), because he wants a full 5 years from me. We talked for a good 45 minutes. He told me some of his philosphies on football and on how a person with the talents I have should act. He told me he thought I had the chance, under the right system, to be successful not only in college, but in the NFL as well.

I have to say, even though he's not the most flashiest of coaches on television, he has quite a lot of knowledge, and he made me rethink some of my preconceived notions about Pittsburgh. Certainly made me think about my options.

So, running talley of schools offering scholarships: Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Marshall, Virginia Tech. Four amazing schools. This is gonna be a touch choice.

Kristy is telling me she's still looking into the whole referee thing, but so far, she hasn't found anything.

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Coach Upshaw, one of the coaches from WVU, invited me to the athletic facility while everyone else on the team was relaxing. They took me around the facility and then I met Coach Rich Rodriguez. He talked to me about playing for WVU, how they want good players from the state to come to WVU, and how they're developing an atmosphere of winning here in Morgantown. He then offered me a scholarship on the spot. I told him I would heavily consider it.

I walked out of my meeting with a strange feeling -- something told I was am supposed to go here, that this school is my destiny, BUT I have to be honest -- I didn't feel entirely comfortable. I can't explain it. Something felt ... wrong. Maybe it's some sort of internal rebellion in me, since everyone expects me to go to West Virginia. One thing's for certain -- I don't want to sign anywhere without thinking long and hard about my decision.

If I don't sign with WVU, at least I'll get to play on their field tomorrow, Which is awesome.

LIST OF OFFERING SCHOOLS:

WVU
Virginia Tech
Tennessee
Marshall
Pittsburgh