University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Football Practice Report
9/11/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2001
Houston, TX - After an open date on the schedule last week, the University of Houston football team returned to its Tuesday practice agenda on Sept. 11. UH will next meet SEC power Georgia on the road in Athens on Sept. 15 at 12 noon (Central time).
Satisfied with the team's effort, Cougar head coach Dana Dimel ended the day's practice slightly ahead of schedule. As he and the team walked off the campus practice fields, a look at the pristine Houston city skyline distracted him from his assessment of the team and his usually football-related thoughts.
"We have such a great view here of the buildings downtown that we (at UH) are almost in the shadows of our city's beautiful skyline," Dimel said. "When I look at (the Houston skyline),I think about the news of today and it makes me appreciate all that we have and all that we should be thankful for.
"It sure puts football in perspective," Dimel added. "A football game is just one football game and a win or a loss doesn't seem like so much compared to the big picture. I had been wrapped up in my football world and today was a hard way to be reminded there's a lot more to life and to be thankful for the blessings we do have."
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An interesting twist to Houston's football practice was that it was the team's 34th practice since the team reported over a month ago. By kickoff against Georgia on Saturday the Cougars will have been through 36 practices, which is exactly one-half of all the regular season workouts the team was scheduled to have in its 2001 11-game schedule (including the open date last week).
Houston will have been through one-half of its practices for the entire year, but the Cougars will have only played one game (it's season-opener against Rice on Sept. 1). Dimel thought that might be a little un-balanced but not impossible to overcome.
"It's the half-way point in terms of the number of practice so it will be more on-the-job training from then on," Dimel explained. "You know, we've been working at football all this time but maybe it's time to 'play' football. We can do it, and that will be good for us. Georgia has a tremendous game-day environment and I think we'll have a lot of emotion to play our best."
Sophomore wide receiver Mark Hopkins underwent surgery last week for a broken fibula. The standout from Houston's Northshore High School will be out for the year.
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