Wake Forest Athletics
100% COTTEN: Come fall, Come
8/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 8, 2005
My summer vacation(s) are now over. And that's both good and bad. Time away spent with family and friends always flies by. Why can't a week at the beach seem like it will never end? That's just how it is I guess. But now that salt and surf and lakes and mountains are distant memories, and golf's four majors have been contested, football can't be far away.
And that's a good thing.
I was working in the yard late Saturday afternoon when a breeze stirred up, and even though the temperature had been hot that day, the breeze seemed unusually cool. I thought perhaps a thunderstorm might be rolling in. Nope. The sky was clear - very clear as a matter of fact, not hazy like most summer days. For a moment, August felt and looked like October.
Then it hit me. Fall was teasing me.
And those same old feelings began to stir. You know the ones. At least you do if you love football. Players and coaches have them. So do fans and foes. Something's in the air.
I can hardly wait the two short weeks or so now for toe to meet leather and Wake Forest to greet Vanderbilt. But wait we must, for there is work to be done. Will it be Mauk or Randolph? Who's the next Eric King? Is Barclay really a senior? Can Plack still reach earth orbit? Is the freshman class as good as advertised?
I've been practicing already. Benjamin. Benjamin. Benjamin. Benjamin. Chris Davis is now number two. And Abbate is going by Jon. Fine by me. As long as Mauk slings it, Davis catches it and Abbate knocks `em into next week - they can go by whatever name or number they wish.
Life is good right now. Coach Grobe has Deacs by the dozen, and the talent level is rising. And so too, slowly and steadily, is the readiness to oppose the Commodores for real on the first evening of September. And ready the Deacs will have to be right out of the chute facing anybody from the SEC followed by a visit to Lincoln against a Nebraska team looking to start and finish strong like Cornhusker teams are supposed to.
Those two and the rest will have to be patient, though, for pictures to be taken, classes to begin, depth charts to be finalized. Each player is a starter right now. And all teams are undefeated.
It's August, but fall is coming. Can you feel it?
Cotten Briefs
- The first two Jim Grobe Shows of the season are set for the two Tuesdays prior to kickoff with Vanderbilt - Tuesday, August 23, and Tuesday, August 30, at The Loop Pizza Grill in the ThruWay Shopping Center in Winston-Salem. Following the game with the Commodores, The Jim Grobe Show will move to Wednesday nights from 7:00-8:30.
- Eddie Williamson joins the Wake Forest ISP Sports Network broadcast team this fall and will report on scores from other games from the ISP Studios in Winston-Salem. Williamson's father, Eddie, was a past assistant coach with the Demon Deacons on two previous staffs.
