Yeah, I had TWO of those "Russian ladies" try that with me... Almost fell for the first one, but not really having the money to start with (the scammers do their homework, as they had the right amount for the plane ticket, which I verified with the airline website), I did EXTENSIVE websearches to see if it could be a scam until I found a couple of sites with pictures of scammers and the letters they send out... Took me a few hours, but I eventually found both her picture and "her letter," listed for not only her, but several others as well. When I didn't continue to reply as expected, and instead replied that I knew I was being scammed, the "pat" (where are you, what's wrong? kind of emails started until I sent a really nasty one with cuts and pastes from the website... then never heard from that one again... A few months later, a DIFFERENT "Russian Lady" from a different part of Russia contacted me via the same email dating service with slightly different story lines, but NOT different enough (pet's a mouse, instead of a cat, etc.), but since I save all my emails, I was able to compare... didn't take but a few and I was sure... did a search on that website and quickly found HER pictures there, too... blew her off and got the EXACT SAME "where are you? what's wrong?" series of two or three emails until once again I had to reply with an in-depth, "I know you're a scammer and HERE'S ALL THE PROOF" email, and never heard from THAT one again, either. My radar's up and flyin' high. Mama didn't raise no fool! Jeff Oh, and it was only $700 dollars, or so, in my case (not $1,500 or more -- I think they do demographics)... But had it been $15, I'd have STILL checked it out first.

Is this the one you saw? http://www.sheknowsparties.com/football-party-food-guacamole-football-field/ Here is another: http://www.whollyguac.com/recipe/details/16 They both have goal posts, but neither one has little football player figures. No one is going to stop you from adding them, though! I don't think you really need help from a web site, though -- just make it the way you described it. Sounds like a darling idea. I'm sure it will be the hit of the party. Here is a link that might be useful: football field dip

i don't think I would switch him from the team. I think that would give the wrong message to him and the other boys would find fault with him. Thoughts about this -- First, if you didn't try to fix the problem and just removed him from the team, I agree that would send the wrong message. That you run away from a problem and don't address it. However, if you attempt to address it and it does not get resolved, then you leave the team. IMO, this sends the message that you tried to fix the problem but you cannot control others, and you will not let your son be abused in this manner. I am not sure how this can be the wrong message. If you worked for a company where you boss was abusive, and the company wouldn't change it, would you stay? Or would you find a new job? About going to the coach instead of the board -- I would bet that this coach has heard this before. If this is how he coaches, I doubt it just suddenly appeared this season. There were probably parents in the past that said something to him. In my experience, they do not think they are doing anything wrong. In fact, they think they are toughening up the kids and teaching them how to win. You talking to him (or writing letter) will do nothing to change his behavior, IMO. I could be wrong, of course. Everyone is different. But, in my experience, they think they know better and you're just babying your son. Believe me I've heard it all from the coach, the coach's wife and other parents. On the other hand, I had parents tell us they were impressed with what we did. I think the only thing that will change his behavior is the threat of losing his team by his bosses (the board). I don't know if your board will do that. It won't change what the coach thinks is the right way to coach, but it might make him temper his words to avoid losing the team. Having our son leave the team he'd play with for 3 years was hard. He was playing with all his friends in town. But, we knew we couldn't leave him in that situation. And he had finally had enough of the abuse and without prompting from us, he said he wouldn't play for him anymore. My son is now 13, so we've been gone from that team for 3 full seasons. Best thing we ever did. He's played for some really wonderful coaches. And some bad coaches too. But, he's learned that not everyone is like that. And he's met some great kids from outside town. I'm not trying to minimize how hard it was. I was sick over it for a long time. It made me so angry that we were forced to leave a team where his friends played because the coach was a jerk, and the town wouldn't do anything about it. It still makes me angry! But, in the end it was a good thing. My son learned baseball from other coaches and organizations we've played for and is a better player for it. It has also taught him to deal with situations of being the new kid on the team. For some kids, this is easy. My son is not outgoing and that is not an easy thing for him. But, on every team he has made friends and I think he's learned that even though he's uncomfortable in that situation, he can handle it. Another good life lesson. I apologize for my long rants on this. I am so passionate about this. Youth sports is a strange place. We've had some awful coaches and some wonderful coaches. And the parents! Don't get me started on the parents. Some are as bad or worse than the bad coaches. But, I've also made some wonderful life-long friends through my son playing. My DH and I and another family (that also left town at the same time), are always saying we should create a reality TV show - "Travel Ball". You would not believe the things we've heard, mostly from parents, on the sidelines of games.

No, I generally do not enjoy watching sports. Oddly I do enjoy playing some sports, though not football in particular. I played some sports in high school and was very competitive, but too prone to injury. I think I loved the physicality of it and the challenge, but don't have a deep love of any sports that would drive me to watch. My husband started watching football after a few months of military training in Texas (and hadn't ever before that). I assume it's something in the water. I dislike the sounds (whistles, yelling, grunting) when it's background noise on the main TV in the house and I'm doing other things. I have gone to a few local college football games and when I was a kid I went to some local NBA games and I find it more enjoyable in person. I certainly can understand why people enjoy watching sports, but it's not for me. I am sad to hear about the football player who experienced cardiac arrest during the game. I hope he's able to heal back to full capability without any lingering effects. Unfortunately many sports carry risk of serious injury or possible death. And as someone who was a student athlete, I know first hand that serious injury can occur when you are pushing yourself as hard as you can. Sometimes the body just cannot withstand the forces or you happen to be unlucky and something happens. I think I had a little of both going on when I kept getting injured, and none of the sports I was playing were intended to be full contact. (Though several of the injuries occurred from physical contact - some intentional and some unintentional.) We all make our choices in life in terms of what we do for living and what we do for fun.