Under His Thumb

twoadays9-6-06Ahhh, Two-A-Days. Even though most of us never had the pleasure of going to a high school with the football tradition of Hoover, I think most of us can relate to many of the moments in this series. While Laguna Beach showed us that the rich and spoiled can also be entertaining, Two-A-Days strives to prove that life does not end if the entire football team has the same haircut. OK, that's not exactly what the show is about, but it is pretty entertaining, and when an entire town lives and dies by what forty kids do on a Friday night, it does make for some pretty good drama.

All of the boys on the Hoover football team have a lot of pressure to win, not only because they want to keep their championship streak alive, but because they know that after every victory comes a big party. With those parties comes the girls, and you know why we love high school girls? It's not that I get older and they stay the same age. (If I were to risk a nickel at Chino, I would want it to be for something worthwhile, like kidnapping Tyra Banks). No, it's because once you go to college, you never have to think about them again!

Oh stop it! I'm just kidding.

While the thoughts of getting some alone time with their favorite cheerleader behind the bleachers does occupy some of their time, there is a lot to say about winning championships. If you are a good player on a good football team, there is a good chance you'll get some attention from college scouts. For a lot of these guys, going off to college is going to be their best chance to get out of Hoover, and for some it may be the only reason for them to ever leave the state of Alabama.

Max is on a recruiting trip to Southern Miss, member of Conference USA. Although he is a good player, you can tell that Max isn't a really big recruit for Southern Miss because they sent some old (read: of legal drinking age) woman from the admissions office and not some hot sorority sister and the keys to an Escalade. Still, it is division 1-A, and you can just see Max's eyes light up with thoughts of someday playing Boise State in the Continental Tire Bowl. But as soon as Max starts to get such gaudy thoughts into his head, his stepfather is there to bring him back to reality, saying that going to Southern Miss is all contingent on how well he plays the rest of the season. Oh, and here I thought that he was planning on going to college in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on an opera scholarship.

twoadays9-6-06a
This is what Max was expecting

twoadays9-6-06b
This is what he got

I don't know why these old people are always on these kids’ backs. Remember how everybody was supposed to be worried about Nease and the so-called number one quarterback in the country? Hoover handled them without a problem. And remember how hard it was supposed to be playing at Spain Park? The cameras tried to make it look close, but that wasn't a big deal either. Nobody can stop Hoover, so why do they even practice?

Well, they practice because the coaches don't have anything better to do. And while it might suck to practice before school and after school, the football players are well taken care of. In one scene, we see Blair and a few of the other cheerleaders bringing some treats into the football locker room, because nothing takes the edge off a tough practice like chocolate chip cookies and a blow pop. By the way, when you name your girl Blair, aren't you pretty much assuring her that she has to try out for the cheerleading team? It's got to be about as much of a surprise as naming your kid Belvedere and finding out he became a butler, or drinks a fifth of vodka every day.

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Comments (19)

fulfill_the_dream_78 Author Profile Page:

Pabst is a dick. Maybe somebody should let him know that most people don't respond well to constant negativity.

On the other hand, these guys obviously do get motivated, but I think it has more to do with themselves and their college future than it does winning one for the coach. My guess is that they hate his bitter ass.

When he was yelling at them all I could think about was a guy like Pete Carroll at USC or Larry Coker at Miami, granted that is the collegiate level, but I seriously doubt that they mentally beat up their players like that.

That's probably why he'll only ever be a high school coach making his $90 grand a year.

Oh and as for the rest of them, wikipedia Two a Days to find out where they all end up, i.e. NOWHERE!

MissKatrina Author Profile Page:

J-Unit, the "red neck, white socks, blue ribbon" comment nearly caused me to give my screen a coffee bath. Having gone to college in Pennsyl-tucky, I am familiar with said stereotype!

Papa Pabst is bluffing; it's part of his job description as a coach to make highlight tapes and schmooze recruiters.

Juana_Wanna Author Profile Page:

I don't really think Pabst is a dick. If you let your players think things are rosy, games that maybe should be gimmes, suddenly turn into embarrassing defeats.

Obviously, they lost this one despite the so-called "abuse," but that was just plain atrocious playing. Ross has no business being a quarterback.

I agree with J-Unit on this though: there is absolutely no reason for Pabst to withhold highlight reels because of one bad game. Those guys obviously have some type of talent, and for him to ruin their lives like that is, yes, dickish.

hoover_buc Author Profile Page:

Propst later had to apologize for the comments he made to the team following the Tuscaloosa County game. But I doubt he seriously considered ruining any players' collegiate future (it looks impressive for high school coaches to send their players to good colleges).

Also, I noticed someone above mad the comment that none of Hoover's players went anywhere. Hoover traditionally has not had a significant amount of top Division 1-A prospects. Past graduates include Chad Jackson, now in the NFL, and Ross's older brother John Parker, the starting QB at Alabama. The 2006 senior class (the current season, the year after Two-A-Days was filmed) is generally considered far superior to the Two-A-Days' 2005 senior class.

Also, Ross Wilson looks far better, and more mature, as a senior in his 2006 season, including a great game against Union HS in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

bridgeguy Author Profile Page:

fulfill_the_dream_78:

Thanks for the spoiler, bud. However, if none of the players went to a big time program it actually says a lot about the coaching job Propst is doing. It means he is taking marginal talent and turning them into a heck of a good team -- greater than the sum of its parts.

fulfill_the_dream_78 Author Profile Page:

Uh you're welcome I guess.

It houldn't come as a real surprise that a bunch of white guys in a suburban neighborhood didn't go play major college football or football at all.

They probably just end up joining frats like the rest of us who thought we were legends in our own minds.

As for the marginal talent comment, maybe they are the best around, but if all the best players from a give area go to the same school, they should be expected to beat everybody else.

I don't think it's the coaching staff, I think that there just isn't alot of great talent in the state Alabama.

hoover_buc Author Profile Page:

Hey fulfull_the_dream:

If there's so little talent in Alabama, how come Hoover beat one of the best (if not the best) high schools in Oklahoma 34-7? Union-Tulsa generally sends a few good players to Oklahoma each year, which, BTW, is one of the best college programs in the country.

And here's something else to chew on: since Propst has been at Hoover, Hoover has beat every out-of-state team they played. The only teams they lost to are from Alabama!

dent Author Profile Page:

I read that Repete was an invited walk on at Auburn, but that he has since left the team which made me feel really sad for him...

I do think that PRobst is a dick, but he must be doing something right. I don't think it is fair to say that there is no talent in ALabama because they beat the state champs from Florida (Nease) which is regarded as one of the best football states (with Texas and Cali)

Also I saw that Max is at Furman which is a very good Div I-AA school in North Carolina.

That being said, Probst does not need to be so drunk with power. He has no right to threaten a kid's scholarship just because his ego gets hurt by a loss.

http://ilovecamping.blogspot.com/2006/09/starring-coach-propst-as-god-on-two.html

zoobabe Author Profile Page:

dent- I don't watch the show but I do know that Furman is in SOUTH Carolina b/c I used to work in the same town it's in. It IS a very good school, as well as an expensive one.

Wade Author Profile Page:

A friend of mine who grew up near Hoover pointed out that her minister used to give a similar sermon to warn against "petting," in case Jesus showed up. Only in Hoover could a white preacher dude tell them to "get up in their grill."

bdub Author Profile Page:

Propst is an abusive jackass

“I ain’t sendin’ any tape out to no colleges neither!”

Propst threatens to ruin his player's futures because thay lost the game and embarrased him.

How does he get away with this crap? hoover_buc seems to think it's OK because he has a winning record. That's pathetic.

The only thing worse than Propst as a football coach are is the team chaplain who pray for the team's success.

I'm sure if there's a God he wants the Hoover HS football team and Russ Propst to beat Tuscaloosa.

hoover_buc Author Profile Page:

Never said it was okay. He was forced to apologize for those comments too.

Just because MTV didn't show Propst taking any responsibility for the loss doesn't mean that he didn't. MTV could care less about how Hoover or Propst is portrayed. They just want to get a reaction from you, bdub. And, from the looks of things, they succeeded.

bdub Author Profile Page:

I agree that reality shows are edited to be provocative however one can only comment on what is shown. Based on what was aired Propst is a jackass.

JDub Author Profile Page:

In that last picture, Ross looks like Martin Short's love child!

heehaw Author Profile Page:

pabst is a king sized asshole! i can't believe he gets away with this abusive behavior, or his lack of the ability to speak the english language. the team pastor is a joke. do these kids respond positively to this kind of motivation. NO! that's why they lost. they know by losing they are afflicting more damage to coach pabsts career than their own. most of them are smart enough to know that they are peaking, and getting more puss than they will at any time in their life. they know that this is the encore. maybe this mtv exposure gets them something after this hokie high school, but look at the cast of LB.

Episode 4:
http://ilovecamping.blogspot.com/2006/09/starved-for-something-on-two-days.html

admc831 Author Profile Page:

Lots of valid points made on here, but FYI, I listened to an interesting interview on a local radio station yesterday beween an MTV producer or editor and the Minister at Hunter Street Baptist Church where Terry Slay is the Youth Minister. Bottom line: The minister thinks Terry Slay has been edited to look like he is a football worshipper instead of a worshipper of God. He has asked MTV to edit Terry Slay out of ALL the rest of the episodes. Apparently, the community and congregation is not too happy with the way Hoover, Probst and Slay have been portrayed. Of course the MTV guy disputed that anything had been "edited" to put a negative slant on anyone and that all they had done was film a documentary (belly laugh on that one).

So, with that in mind, I just have to wonder, WHAT DID THESE PEOPLE THINK WHEN THEY AGREED TO LET MTV FOLLOW THEM AROUND AND FILM EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES?
Come on! It's MTV...have they EVER not edited things to make it alluring and attractive for their target audience? Maybe they (Hooverites) should have put a clause in there demanding final editing rights, but I secretly think they were too blinded by the possibility of fleeting fame to even read the fine print.

In the meantime, MTV is gloating all the way to the bank, and Hoover needs to adopt the Laguna attitude of what happens in Hoover stays in Hoover.

Oh I forgot...too late for that. DING!

MichyPR Author Profile Page:

In that last picture, Ross looks like Martin Short's love child!

Posted by: JDub | September 12, 2006 07:00 PM(#15 of 18)

LMAO that is on point lol

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