Lilliputians vs the Giants
September 21, 2008
Sometimes size does matter.
But it didn’t stop them from getting back on the line.
And it didn’t stop them from getting up after they were knocked down.
But man, I think there must be a nuclear reactor near-by because these 8 and 9 yr old kids were huge.
Posted by Chris @ 8:43 am
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Has anyone seen a birth certificate for those boys???
They sure don’t look 8 or 9 to me!
Chris says: The thing about playing a big city is that they have more kids and therefore are more likely to have many freaky large kids. We only have one on our team. And he isn’t very co-ordinated. My son is one of the smallest on our team.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:01 pmThose kids are HUGE!!!
Did you check thier drivers licences just to check that they are eight?
September 21st, 2008 at 5:20 pmI’m confused. I thought there was a weight limit that your slight son had a hard time weighing little enough to fit within? Why is the other team so much larger? Shouldn’t they be in the same weight bracket?
Mind, I know nothing about these sorts of things (sports, qualifying elements etc).
Chris says: There is a weight limit. It is 104lbs for 8 and 9 yr old kids. Everyone except for one kid on our team weigh in with all their gear on and are still far far below the cut off. My son, with all his gear, weighs 70lbs.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:48 pmOh my word! That last picture makes me think of a group of Goliaths looking at a group of Davids. Was you son scared? I would have been.
Chris says: Nah, he wasn’t scared at all. Now *I* would have been running the other way.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:35 pmBeth I think that it was Chris’s older son who had the weigh in diet.
Are they possibly sponsored by Cadbury given the colour of their uniforms?
September 21st, 2008 at 7:23 pmHoly crap…how do you resist the temptation to stand in front of him, yelling “pick on someone your own size!!!” ?
September 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pm104 for 8 and 9 year olds? OH MY STINKIN’ HECK.
September 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pmWe grow’em big in TEXAS, but not THAT BIG!
I gotta agree…104 lbs for 8 and 9? My tall-ish 8-yr-old weighs under 60lbs soaking wet, and he’s nicely muscled from karate. Yikes.
September 21st, 2008 at 8:56 pmI love the last picture! They do look a little scared though.
September 21st, 2008 at 10:18 pmBased on your other posts about your older boys, I know you have seen this before… but to me, the biggest size difference was when the boys are playing on an 11 and 12 year old team. Man, some of those boys have shot up at age 12 and so many 11 year boys have not. I have a picture of a baseball game - 1st base: fielder 6 ft tall, runner less than 5 ft. Significant difference.
September 21st, 2008 at 10:37 pmI was remembering that your son (it was this one right?) was struggling to make the weight. I was thinking he weighed TOO much. Obviously I was mistaken… Those kids are huge!!!
Chris says: No, it was my 13 yr old son who struggles to keep his weight within the limit.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:23 pmWooo Hoooo! I could make the 8 & 9 year old team based on weight alone! Too bad I have no interest whatsoever in learning to play football.
Chris says:Me too. Which is a little frightening. I feel like I missed some important vitamins in my growing up years.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:40 pmChinese gymnastics team. I’m just sayin’.
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:00 amDid you ever consider that the largest child on your son’s team may read your blog and be hurt by your comments?
Chris says: Why would he be reading my blog? I would hope that no parents would be allowing their nine year old to read my blog or have unrestricted access to the internet so that he found it himself and then READ ALL THE COMMENTS. And the word “unco-ordinated” was very charitable.
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:14 amWhen my sons played football what amazed me most was just how tough those shorter guys were! My sons are tall and I thought they’d clobber those kids. Wrong.
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:53 amIsn’t weird how much variety there is in an age range? My 7 year old son isn’t much smaller than my 11 year old (who is due for a growth spurt any day now). Now if the purple team had facial hair, then I’d be concerned.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 amThe last pic makes them look a little intimiated - but the rest of the pics are spectacular - as I am coming to realize is the norm from your blog. The way a boy’s mind works (ANY boy who is brave enough to play football) is really amazing. How they can get back up every time just astounds me. Go Lilliputians! (how’d they do?)
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 amLove how he looks the center dead in the eyes, even though he’s twice his size. What a great lineman.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:49 amMy comment doesn’t have alot to do with the pictures, but I just wanted you to know how appreciated you are in my part of America. My good friend and I find ourselves, on occasion, emailing each other and quoting something funny you’ve said or referring to a recipe in “workitmom”. Its just great to read about your life and relate to your honesty…and know that you LOVE your family even in the midst of the insanity.
(I’m feeling exceptionally positive today, I think; either that or the coffee is really working for me right now.) Regardless, your blog is a great stress reliever!
Chris says: Wow, Beth. Thank you!
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 amWow, did they win though?
Chris says: Uh, no. They lost 26 - 0 or something like that. But they tried.
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:19 amWe had a similar situation on the soccer field yesterday. The opposing team looked mostly like 9 and 10 yr olds, not 7 and 8 yr olds like our team. We also had a parent outburst similar to your situation, but thankfully the language was a little less severe. Yikes!
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:06 pmChris - WOW that team has some BIG boys!! Ask their moms what are they eating!
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pmWhat are they feeding those man-boys????
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pmHA HA HA……WHY would a 9 year old be reading this Blog…..AAAAAGGG HA HA HA HA…………..
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 pmCute pictures. I love the last one cause it looks like the boy in the front is sucking his thumb.
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 pmBeing a “sturdy” midwesterner myself, I’m guessing those huge boys are east coast transplants from our good, corn-fed stock. My nephew, who is not-quite 9, weighs 94 lbs (his six year old sister is 72 lbs) and they are not fat kids–they are just big and sturdy and muscular and actually live on a farm and eat all their own food.
Even though they’re only 8 and 6 and more interested in Boy Scouts and Polly Pockets, they’re sturdy enough that I totally let them read your blog. They especially liked the update on and photo of the pantry, since that’s totally their kind of thing. I mean, what 9-year-old wouldn’t want to read your stories?
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pmLook at the defined calf muscles on that one kid! Are they taking steroids?
I’m admiring the beautiful color in your picture, especially the purple uniforms on the other team. Your camera takes such vibrant and sharp pictures.
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:11 pmHoly crap!! The kids on both teams are the same age? Seriously?? That photo looks like a joke!
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 pmGood gravy what are they feeding those boys? Do they live near a radioative dump?
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:44 pmChris, you are one brave Mama to be able to sit back while your brave son squared off against the boys twice his size! This post terrifies me for my eldest is only four years old and already talking about football. I’m still in the “protect him from the world” state of mind, and peering out of that realm is scary! lol
Thank you for your beautiful post, as always, love the pictures! :)))
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:10 pmChris, I love your responses to these comments almost as much as I loved the post! I don’t know any nine year olds either that would be reading a blog…much less any teenagers.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 pmYES! We have the same situation here. My 9-year old played against a boy last week that looked at least 13. He was 130 lbs! In our league, he can still play but can’t carry the ball. My feeling: what about the line? He’s coming for my 80 lb quarterback, people!
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 pmA couple of years ago, when my son was about 10, we were talking about how big some of the kids on the other basketball team were. We were describing one kid in particular and my son really innocently said, “You mean the one with the mustache?”
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:37 pmI’ve been catching up on your entries and can’t help but mention that I’m late to the soccer, ballet, sport stuff w/ my kid and there is a part of me that wishes I had never started it…not because of the extra time and energy driving her around but because of the parents….they are damn scary. I’ve seen moms yell at their daughters because they are not doing the right dance steps and both moms and dads loose it at soccer games…scary. I made the mistake of volunteering to be team parent this season (won’t be doing that again!!!) and some parents just like to gripe over the smallest of things…they are kids and not professional athletes for pete’s sake!
I love your pictures btw.
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 pmI can totally get the size difference. Even in my own house I see it. My almost 7 1/2 year old is 3′10″ and 52-ish lbs depending on the day. His brother is almost 2 and at his last check up in July, he was 36″ and a little over 28lbs (and he was 5 weeks preemie). We keep telling our oldest to be nice to his little brother because he’s not going to be little for long.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 amLast year I stupidly signed by 6 year old up for the 7-8 football league. He was about 45 lbs. I was nuts. However, he had the most amazing coach with tons of patience who really taught them the game. But after colliding with guys like those you have pictured, he shook in his boots when the subject of football came up this year. He’s playing baseball instead. Just when I thought I had ruined football for him forever, he told me that he was gonna play football when he was 8 and he’d be one of the biggest! Smart kid.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:19 amI love the look on #10’s face in the first picture, like “WHAT….I come up to his chest!”. In many leagues, it is based on grade, not necessarily on size. In our league there are certain weight requirements for certain positions. Unfortunately that includes overweight kids too - you have to be a certain age and weight to play (he’s 30# over in 4th grade). And we don’t do full tackle until 4th grade - many Pop Warner teams do. If they are well coached and do what they’re supposed to, even against bigger (ginormous!) guys, they won’t get hurt.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm