I’m not really quite sure when the tradition started but every year on Christmas Eve the Parker clan plays in a football game. This year Jordan would be joining in since he and Casey got married. For some reason Jordan being involved made this game into an EVENT. Everyone took it SO seriously this year. Like, over the top.
First of all, Zach decided that they needed to have a trophy and the winning team would get to keep the trophy until the following year’s game. He spent HOURS crafting and creating this beast. It’s MASSIVE. I kept joking that I was excited for the game just to get the thing out of my house 😉
Of course jerseys got discussed and it was decided that our team would make our own with t-shirts. Zach ironed on tons of letters and numbers and they even had PRACTICE. Like more than one practice…for a FAMILY football game. I’m telling you, this was no joke. I actually got my feelings rather hurt because pretty much every single member of the entire family had a role in this thing and i wasn’t even asked to take part. Duh, I wouldn’t want to play (hello even if I did I’m wearing a dang walking boot haha) but it would at least be nice to be asked or to even be offered some type of roll. Keeping score, keeping the time, referring…something. Then Zach felt guilty for leaving me out and dubbed me as “coach” of their team. Which basically meant NOTHING. I just rolled with it though as I didn’t wanna be a Debbie Downer about the whole thing 😉
When Zach was working on the shirts Kye said he wanted one too! It was SO cute how serious he took his football jersey 😉 We all wore them to Mrs. Charlotte’s on Christmas Eve. The game was set for 1:00 so all the kids would be napping and the adults wouldn’t have their children to worry about (although Kye was SUPER crunk about Christmas and ended up just laying in his bed not sleeping at all the entire nap!)
Kye says his football name is FLASH!
Gotta do the #1s 😉
Our Team!
Haha Mr. Rusty’s “mean” face is hilarious
Trophy!
The name of the football game has always been simply “the Parker family football game.” I’m glad for the official name change to Cat Creek Classic. Cat Creek is the road Big Daddy lives off of and I think it’s nice that it’s not specifically a Parker family thing. Brad and Jordan and Trey aren’t Parkers!
The cuter team wins, right?
This is SUCH a legit game that there was even an article written about it (orrrrr maybe Jordan just wrote it for fun to get everyone jacked!)
Heated Rivalry Renewed on Christmas Eve
Associated Press
If you asked the average fan what the best rivalry in sports is, you might get different answers.
Ohio State-Michigan. North Carolina-Duke. Alabama-Auburn. Lakers-Celtics. Yankees-Red Sox.
But in a small section of Valdosta, Georgia, there is no debate.
“It’s the Cat Creek Classic, man,” says Lorangalo Davidson, who lives on Cat Creek Road. “I take my boys Jajawan, Lovontray, Ijonn, Tavariusness, and Jimmy every year. It’s a lot of fun.”
This year, there is a different feel.
Jake Parker and Brad Fleming join the Stone Creek squad this year after playing for the Radar Site team last season. But the move hasn’t gone unnoticed. Radar Site quarterback Rusty Parker used the word “frontrunner” when talking about their transfer to Stone Creek.
“Rusty threw the ball to Zach and Zach only,” says Fleming. “I wasn’t going through that again so I signed with Stone Creek.” Parker says he had reasons Fleming didn’t get the rock.
“He couldn’t get open,” says Parker. “Not really complicated.”
Newcomer Jordan Bacon comes into the game after transferring from Kennesaw, Georgia. Bacon’s strength and athleticism could give the Stone Creek defense some fits. But Austin Parker isn’t convinced. When asked about defending Bacon, Parker replied, “I’ll have a tougher time fixing my hair that morning. We’re not too worried.”
The team from Stone Creek opened up as 14 point favorites but the line has moved to 17.5. No surprise after last year’s effort and with all 4 players being current or former high school or college players. And the star of the team, Cole Parker, seems extremely confident.
“It’s kind of like when Alabama plays Western Carolina to start the season,” says Parker. “That’s kind of how we’re approaching this game. It’s sort of like a tune up game. We know it’s a W but we’re using it as a game to learn and to get better.”
As always, there is no lack of controversy going into this game. Cole Parker recently went public on twitter. His target? Radar Site star Zach Parker.
@CP3_DaTruth: “Zach Parker gon try to cover me?!?! This ain’t 2007! Hope he’s got someone picking him up at the nursing home. #Washedup”
When asked about the comment, Zach said, “I don’t even know what tweeter is. I don’t have Facebook, Myspace or any of those things. We just got internet last year. Whatever he said, I’m sure it was intelligent. Didn’t he go to Brown or something?”
“I don’t really talk much. I just let my play do the talking,” says Parker. “I’ve got 2 national championship rings and I was number one on ESPN Top Plays. I’m planning on making more plays and getting another ring.”
On paper, Stone Creek should run away with this game. Most pundits say that the Radar Site squad has little to no chance. It wouldn’t be the first time a big underdog won in this game.
Back in 1947, the inaugural Cat Creek Classic, quarterback Steve Parker led Stone Creek to a shocking victory. Holding on to a 3-0 lead late in the 4th quarter, Radar Site quarterback Rusty Parker threw an interception to Bill Ray Johnson to set up an incredible finish. Steve threw a 37 yard touchdown pass as time expired to Parker’s third cousin, Bubba Parker and won the game 6-3.
Could we possibly see another upset? Not likely. But that’s why they play the game.
Sadly, Jordan actually got injured during practice. He was the one that made the whole thing SUCH a huge event then he couldn’t even hardly participate for the game 🙁 We all felt SO sorry for him!!! Luckily Aunt Debbie’s brother offered to help us out when needed!
You can tell how seriously the other team took it!!! Their name was “The Good Bulls.” Big Daddy has this saying “When you put a good bull in the pasture” So they chose their name from that. Super clever! I thought Zach took it WAY too seriously but our team wasn’t nearly as legit as they were. They had for REAL jerseys made and all had matching shorts and everything…
Discussing rules
Casey really paying attention 😉
Our team had a song we played when the players ran out on the field and a banner made for them to run through!
Little Mama’s face when she read the sign haha
Our team was called “Aged 2 Perfection” b/c it was basically made up of washed up athletes 😉 The sign read “Aged 2 Perfection ready to castrate those bulls!”
Game Time!
The game is played in Big Daddy’s field and the guys met up the day before to mow the grass and even paint the field. Let’s see if I remember this right: It was two twenty minute halves with a running clock except for the last two minutes. The other team’s quarterback counted 5 seconds off for each throw. It was flag football so whenever someone pulled your flag you were down where they pulled it. Rusty was the all-time quarterback for our team and Steven was the all-time quarterback for theirs. Courtney and Casey traded out playing for us and Brad and Aunt Karen traded out on their team. My role of “Coach” really just turned into me taking lots of pictures and hardcore cheering on my team 😉 It may sound lame but it really did take me back to Zach’s football days!!! It was fun!
Aunt Karen
Seeing Zach in his football player role totally made me look at him like he was 19 again 😉
I took two videos during the game…you mostly can just hear my amazing cheering skills! Here’s the first one!
Casey more concerned with lookin’ cute than winning…which I appreciated 😉
Jolee was the time keeper…poor girl had a LOT of yelling in her direction!
The fans
Keeping a close watch on that time 😉
Haha “Advil $1.00”
Trying to learn the playbook (yes, each time made their own PLAYBOOK)
I feel bad I’m not sure of this boys name…he’s Aunt Debbie’s nephew but he took care of their playbook!
Little Mama cheered each time equally 🙂
Aunt Debbie handled the “live sideline tweets” haha 😉
I love how “The Bull” is giving some pointers to the Good Bulls 😉
I think it was sweet how the three Parker brothers all got to play together…I bet it was so fun for them!
Aged 2 Perfection was for sure an appropriate name for our team. Zach was BEAT!
My favorite cheering partner! Brought back those awesome memories 🙂 We are the reason Zach caught so many TD’s in his time!!!
I wish Brad had been on our team just because it was neat having everyone together…I think Trey enjoyed the bonding time with Zach and he really played AWESOME too!!!
Uncle Steven the “sonslinger” 😉
Rocking the boot while pacing the sidelines cheering on my man!
It even rained but didn’t stop these crazy people from having a BLAST!
Trophy presentation
We were the underdogs BIG TIME but surprised everyone (especially with Jordan being injured) and kept the game close! In the end though the Good Bulls pulled out the win!
The have to get to keep the trophy till next year!
Leading up to the game I was rather annoyed by the whole thing. It’s ALL everyone was talking about and I feel like it overshadowed the other fun things we were doing as a family. I wish it was held some other time of the year so it wouldn’t take up SO much of the focus around Christmas time…BUT it was super fun. Like for real. I had a BLAST cheering everyone on and it made my heart happy to see everyone enjoying themselves!!! We are blessed with such an awesome family who truly all love each other and enjoy being together!
Seeing as I didn’t pay much attention at all to the actual game…Jordan wrote up another article for me 😉 I’m telling you HE needs to become a sports writer! He’s got a lot of talent in it for sure!!!
‘Good Bulls’ sneak past
depleted ‘Aged 2 Perfection’
By: Jordan Bacon
When
football fans look back through the annals of history, the 2012 Cat Creek
Classic may go down as one of the greatest games ever played. And it may have
been the biggest mismatch.
With Jordan
Bacon (severed hamstring), Courtney Fleming (lupus), and Rusty Parker (joint pain)
all suffering from ailments, the Aged 2 Perfection squad was outmanned. But the
underdog team came together and left it all on the field.
Unfortunately
for them, the Good Bulls were too young, fast and athletic for the injury
ridden team from Radar Site road as the Good Bulls scored late to win the game
46-39.
With a
minute and 34 seconds left on the clock, Parker took the snap and found Fleming
on a crossing route as he beat Courtney and took it in for the touchdown. It
was his 2nd reception of the game.
“It feels
good,” says Fleming. “Just being able to go out there and catch the game
winning touchdown and just using my speed, it’s a great feeling.”
The Good
Bulls raced out to a 19-7 lead near the end of the first half and it looked
like the route was on. But Aged 2 Perfection quarterback Rusty Parker led his
team down the field on a time consuming drive that ended with a touchdown to
Zach Parker to cut the lead to 19-14 before halftime.
Aged 2
Perfection took the ball to start the half down 5 points. Parker led another
brilliant drive that ended in a touchdown to Zach as they took the lead 20-19.
That lead was short lived as Steve Parker hit Cole Parker on the first play of
the following drive for a 60 yard TD.
The two
teams went back and forth for the remainder of the game. Late in the second
half with the Good Bulls up 39-32, Aged 2 Perfection was marching down the
field once again. With the Good Bulls looking to complete a goal line stand for
the ages, Rusty Parker threw a 5 yard TD to Zach Parker on 4th and
goal to tie the game at 39-39.
With less
than 5 minutes on the clock, Steve Parker knew what he had to do.
“Just do
what I’ve always done,” says Parker. “Big players show up in big games.”
Parker put
together a drive with receptions by Austin Parker, Jake Parker and Cole Parker
to set up the game winning throw. With Courtney Fleming and Casey Bacon
shutting down Brad Fleming for the majority of the game, Fleming broke free and
caught an 8 yard TD pass to take the lead 46-39.
Rusty Parker
had a minute and a half to lead his team down the field to try to tie or win the
game.
“I’ve done
it my entire career,” says Parker. “I thought they left too much time on the
clock for me.”
Parker and
the Aged 2 Perfection offense drove down the field and as he hit Casey Bacon
and Trey Nees for big gains to get in position to tie the game. But the drive
stalled and Parker was faced with a 4th and goal from the 20. Parker
took a sack and bedlam ensued. The upset bid was over.
“They came
in and played a good game but we were just better,” said Cole Parker. “I just
felt like I couldn’t be stop. I thought that I could score every time I touched
the ball.”
Cole Parker
scored 4 touchdowns as Jake Parker, Austin Parker and Brad Fleming all added a
score. For Aged 2 Perfection, Zach Parker had 5 scores and Trey Nees also had a
touchdown.
Controversy
surrounded the post game chatter as the ongoing investigation into whether or
not Cole Parker received improper benefits overshadowed the game.
“I’m not
going to comment on that,” says Parker. “If you want to ask football questions,
ask me football questions. If not, I can leave.”
Check back
for updates.
*****
It was a fun event and I KNOW our team will bring home the trophy next year (but I def don’t want to be keeping it at our house haha). It will be super fun once the kids are older and can participate too. Little Flash is excited to be on the field!
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oh my gosh, for real this is the most hilarious thing ever! I am literally laughing so so hard that Jordan got injured, classic! this may possibly be my fav post ever!!! what can i be next year at the event? water boy? cheer squad? hahaha
This whole post cracked me up! I really enjoyed reading it! What a great family event =)