Fantasy Sports for Kids

Image Credit: Sga.za.net

Did anyone else notice #74 for the Balitmore Ravens leaving the field during Sunday’s game? Well I did and this is why -

After a weekend of giving thanks and consuming ridiculous amounts of good food, the family settled in to watch a movie.  Fortunately for us  The Blind Side was on cable so the decision was an easy one.

If you haven’t seen this movie then you should. It’s  a touching film about Michael Oher (pronounced ‘oar’), a young Memphis boy who spent the better part of his first 17 years in foster care. Then he met the Tuohy family, a caring and well-to-do family from the other side of town. The Tuohy family took a special interest in Michael and through their love and care changed the direction of his life, one that perhaps may have taken a very different turn.

Instead of finding ‘the streets’ Michael found his way on to the high school football team but struggled to embrace his role as left tackle where he was charged with protecting the QB’s “blind side.” If you’re not familiar with “the blind side” is here’s the quick and dirty. Since most quarterbacks are right handed, they tend to look towards their right more and away from their left thus creating what is commonly called the blind side. These quarterbacks are relying on their left tackle to protect them from pass rushers. What makes this an even more difficult position is that the defense will generally put their fastest and best pass rushed up against the left tackle, so this guy has to be extra fast and exceedingly dependable.*

In the movie Sandra Bullock, playing the part of Leigh Anne Tuohy (the mom), shows up at practice and notices her adopted son struggling on the field. After watching him for some time she takes him aside and tells him that the QB and the rest of the team are like his family, and that he needs to protect them like he would protect his own family (in the movie she references her younger son SJ who befriends Michael).

After making the connection between team and family he becomes an incredibly talented high school football player, an All American in college, and ultimately a starting tackle on the Ravens. Obviously this is the abbreviated version but after seeing the movie on Saturday night, and then seeing this guy get hurt on Sunday, I had an epiphany about the whole notion of “protecting the blind side.”

In the movie Michael protected his QB’s blind side while Leigh Anne Tuohy protected his. This story is one for the movies, literally, but one that we’re all keenly aware of.   We all know people like Michael and Leigh Anne. Chances are if you’re reading this blog then you’re one of them.

Over the past several weeks we’ve written about some of these people- the members of our community that look out for others. They keep an eye on one or more “blind sides” and make sure those that need help are safe. If they can’t help directly they contribute to organizations (teams) that can and in that way become members of one or more teams.

Typically this blog is about an individual fantasy player who has nominated an organization that helps children. This week it’s about every member of every community that is looking out for someone’s blind side – because sometimes everyone needs a left tackle in their life.

*http://www.filmsinreview.com/2009/11/21/3326/