So, Josh's Vikings play my Rangers this week.

The Vikings are district champs and the Rangers...well, we have overcome adversity in many other ways...and for the first time in seven years, Josh and I will meet up on Friday night on opposite sides of the hash marks.  

Photo by Field Shots

Back when I worked at A&M Consolidated as the assistant AT, Josh and I had a few moments of brief pranking followed with mild retaliation...all in good fun, really.  So, I thought I would share the top 10 pranks and gotchas (in no particular order) that I chose not to pull off:

1. Slop skin lube underneath his truck door handle
2. Switch out all of his blue power-flex for green
3. Flexi-wrap anything and everything
4. Fill his office with green balloons and streamers
5. Shoe polish his windows with "Go Rangers" and such
6. Hide his game shirt, work keys, etc
7. Replace items in his kit with items that are practically useless on the sideline (hair spray for QDA, toothpaste of triple antibiotic cream, masking tape for athletic tape, Flintstone vitamins for Tylenol...you get the idea)
8. Switch out the lock on his sideline trunk
9. Write "Rangers Rule - Vickings Drool" on the back of his head whilst he sleeps (that's even funnier if you have been around here for more than a few years)
10. Replace all of his nice sideline coolers with crappy ones that I have in storage

With that being said, there are still a few ideas up my sleeve regarding how this memorable week will be commemorated.  
As mentioned, Josh and I have a very similar job but, yet, have a very different ending to our season.  Back up a few months...we have both made it through many hot and painful days of practice, which paved the way to the first Friday Night Lights of the 2014 season.  Along this journey, we have both treated injuries that range from the very minor to severe.  Nevertheless, wins and loses began to be dealt out and scouting reports developed into worshiped manuscripts that would hold the key to the next highly sought after win.  There are many components that make one job unlike the other; our coaching staffs are very different, our facilities are less than similar, and our record is just about as opposite as they come.  However, our job remains the same, regardless of any differences aforementioned we are both committed to being the advocate for the athlete, communicating to the coaches, parents and administrators when necessary, documenting, treating, and following up with athletes.  Day after day, night after night, regardless of a "W" or an "L", we set out with the same purpose, to keep kids safe and healthy.  
So, as many seasons are coming to an end and others hang in the balance of borrowed time, secondary school athletic trainers everywhere are doing one of two things, 1.) getting ready to switch gears for basketball or 2.) adding on the additional load of basketball while continuing the pursuit of football greatness.   Regardless of which situation you are in, I think that we would all agree that the patients in our care receive the best care available, win or lose.  
That's all.