Waffles at 5 a.m. for
JV Football Players
East Hampton is a long way from Huntington. It seems even more distant when traveling by bus. So, the Huntington junior varsity football team needed to get a very early start last Saturday for its journey to play a morning game against Bonackers.
Blue Devil coaches told players to get a good night's sleep. But, a 6 a.m. bus departure threw a proverbial monkey wrench into the regular script the team follows each weekend.
"Usually, every Saturday morning, the captains and coaches have breakfast at the Golden Dolphin Diner in town," said Ron Wilson, who coaches the Blue Devils along with Todd Jamison. "The diner doesn't open until 6 a.m., but we decided that we still needed to maintain tradition and eat waffles before the game. I guess you can say that some of us are superstitious."
So at 4:30 a.m., coaches Wilson and Jamison arrived at the school with toaster ovens as well as waffles, syrup, butter, orange juice and related items. Players that wanted to eat breakfast with the team were asked to report to the gym wing at 5 a.m.
"For the most part, all of our players showed up with the exception of two," Wilson said. "It was a great time. It also gave us a long relaxing trip over to East Hampton - a two-hour bus ride."
After downing breakfast, the journey to the East End was a peaceful one for the Blue Devils. "I think everyone on the bus was asleep," Wilson said. "I'm not positive, probably because I was asleep myself."