All Part Of The Job

Spring (Texas) Dekaney coach Willie Amendola tries to divert a runaway
cart away from a couple of reporters during an interview after Amendola's
team won the Texas 5A Division II chamionship. The runaway cart shows
that being a sports reporter is never an easy job.

This week is always tough for sports reporters. Between high school basketball tournaments and dealing with players like Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Jay Ratliffe, it's no wonder most of my colleagues spend the holidays with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

But nothing compares to what happened in the Texas 5A Division II high school football championship — or more specifically after it. A unmanned electric cart took off down the field before plowing into a group of reporters interviewing a coach.

As a reporter, I know I take my life into my own hands when I step on the field. More often than not, I appear to have a target on my back when it comes to footballs, basketballs, soccer balls and softballs. I've even been run over by a 200-pound running back — although he ended up taking the brunt of the blow.

Never have I been run over by an electric cart.

When I first saw this video, I couldn't help but laugh for a good 20 minutes. It was a scary moment, but once you learned that everybody survived with minor injuries, you can't help but laugh. From Spring (Texas) Dekaney's coach Willie Amendola — father of St. Louis Rams and former Texas Tech wide receiver Danny Amendola — trying to control the cart from the passenger seat to watching the field workers unsuccessfully track down the cart, this viral video is full of comic gold. It just takes a couple of viewings to see it all.

No doubt, some readers will say a couple of those reporters deserved to be run over. I can probably think of a couple of guys I'd like to see run over by a cart. Hopefully they all got hazard pay after this incident.

All kidding aside, I'm glad to see that no one was seriously injured in this bizarre accident. And I know the next time I go to interview a coach,  I will keep one eye open for runaway carts and possibly goalposts.