On a cold Friday evening, as the rain comes down, math teacher George Appleby sits in a lawn chair on the school’s roof with a video camera in hand. Though removed from the bright lights and cheer of the spectators of the football game, Appleby still remains a part of the action of the team below.
“Since I’m not a coach and I was never a good athlete, it gives me a chance to be part of the Athletic Department and I feel like a part of things,” Appleby said. “The nice thing is when the coaches and the kids on the team say thank you, that’s a natural high. ‘You did you a good job on that game,’ or whatever it may be.”
For 38 years, Appleby has taped football games for the Athletic Department. “[The taping is] so the coaches can review the tape with the team and point out mistakes and how they can be better. It’s a great teaching tool,” Appleby said. Appleby tapes, on average, three games a week: a varsity, a junior varsity, and a scouting game.
He tapes from September to November. “I really enjoy it. I look forward to the fall when that takes place. I like watching football both on TV and in person,” Appleby said.
As a scout, Appleby must go to at least one game of each opposing team’s season. He films each game for the JC coaches to get a better understanding of the way that the team plays and which plays could be most effective for JC to use against that team.
Appleby got his start as the football team’s videographer because former football coach Gerry Gray originally asked Appleby to tape games.
In the beginning, Appleby taped the games from room 307, now religion teacher Katie Wood’s classroom, but he now tapes them from the roof. In regards to room 307, Appleby said, “we used to call it the ‘Presidential Box,’ but the trees have grown, and that created a problem, so now the best view is from the roof.”
Appleby recalls that there are some schools he has visited that have press boxes where he can film the games. However, some of the schools he visits don’t have press boxes and he has to find himself the best place to film. Some of these places he recalls are not always the most convenient. He remembers having to climb ladders and walking through mud several times. “Sometimes the place where I have to do the videoing is not very sturdy or is difficult to get to, so I don’t go down at half time,” he said. “I just stay there because I’m scared that if I come down, I’m not going to be able to get back up.”
Appleby says he really enjoys taping the games because he really gets to know the team. Appleby calls the feeling “like teaching a good lesson; you know by the reactions of the students that you have gotten your point across and it makes you feel good.”
Allison Walczyk can be reached for comment at [email protected].