papa

If I could change anything in my life, I would bring papa back. He was my dad’s father and born in 1924. His name was William “Bill” Rosenkoetter and he was a WWII veteran. We were as close as you would expect any grandson and grandfather to be. I would crawl into his lap and just listen to his stories for hour’s upon hours. He would just talk about the war and things he had done in his life. He owned his own business until he retired and was the best with a hammer and a 2 by 4. The man could build anything out of wood, but forget ever working on a car. From the stories I heard he never looked so proud of my father until he held me for the first time after I was born. He died when I was only 5 years old but he has forever changed my life on a daily basis, I look at his military flag every day.  The only thing that him being alive still would change is I would still have a grandfather that was alive and he would have taught me everything he possibly could of about everything he could.

my place

My favorite place in the whole wide world has to be a football field. Football has been there through the hard time and the good. I have only been playing football for 4 years but this is my sport the sport I prosper at the most. I don’t know what about football gets me it might be the Friday Night Lights it could be the tackling and analyzing that has to happen in a split second that could change the outcome of the entire game. I just love being able to prove to myself  and my city that I am better than the guy across from me and I can dominate him. What most people do not realize is that football is a science, studying the film before the game learning there plays, to keying the best guys on their team and making sure they do not touch the football ever. Football is my escape from all the other pressures of life. 

summer

                One of the most interesting things I did this summer was probably going to the state championships for baseball. I was part of the Sheffield Venom; I was the only fourteen year old to be playing with sixteen year olds. Before I joined the team they were undefeated and had won the state championship the year before but that was in the 14u league. Now that I joined the team and most the players were 16 they moved up to the 16u league.  I was recruited to play for this team because of my hitting ability, catching skills, and my fielding abilities at first and third base. The practices that we had were going great and we looked like one of the best teams around.  I saw some of the best pitching I have ever seen; curveballs that made 18u players just drop their jaw.  So we go through the season undefeated winning the country championship, the regional championship and now in the game for the state championship. It’s a tie game at the end of the 7^th inning. (In 16u games you only play 7 innings usually.) So there we are at the end of regulation tied 2-2 and we head into extra innings. We scored 2 and they came back at us and scored two points in the bottom of the 7^th inning. We were u [top bat at the top of the 8^th inning and are haled so its 4-4 in the bottom of the 8^th inning. They get 2 men on base one on second the other on third. A bigger kid who has been smashing the ball all night is up to bat with 2 outs. The first pitch is a curveball and the kid hits it over our right fielders head and both runs on base come into score and we lost the game.

rosenkoetter

                Rosenkoetter is a German name that was brought over with my great grandfather. He owned a saloon in a quarry town in Quincy, Ill. He would cash the workers’ pay checks and only allow them to buy do much liquor and their wives would have to come pick up the rest of the check so he knew it got to their families.   If this was not done the minders would of drank more than a fish. They could outdrink any fish out there.

He son was a skilled carpenter who joined the United States Army during WWII. He fought from the beach head of Normandy, France all the way to Belgium. My grandfather ended up spending 9 months in the infirmary for frost bite and nearly lost both his feet. As far as my father and I know he was sent back into the war when he was cleared for active duty. He then had the privilege of playing trumpet for the Glen Miller Band on a USO tour. He was then returned to the US and given his honorable discharge papers.  He would go back to carpentry and bear 4 children 2 of his children were mentally handicapped. One child died at age 12 and his other would die at a much later age.         

I like to believe I have contributed a lot of positive things to my family’s name in the short 14 years I have been around. I have been one of the youngest umpires on record to umpire a CVBA baseball game. I have had coaches come from all parts of town asking me to not only umpire there younger teams but play for their older teams.  I have been the first high school football player and the first voted team captain for baseball in my family. I have been an A, B student since kindergarten.  I am also the first to go to  college because I was accepted into the early college program.

           

Brett Rosenkoetter

8-31-13

     If I have one rule that I live by it would be: to never quite or give into negative peer pressure. I see no point in giving into negative peer pressure or quitting. There have been times where everybody in the world has wanted to quit something that’s when we need to dig down deep and prove ourselves. Show the world that we have passion in what we are doing. Anybody can quit but if we persevere that shows the world that we have passion deep inside us and we will not back down from a challenge. My old wrestling coach use to drill into our heads “Mind over matter if you don’t mind it doesn’t matter.” This was drilled into our heads during practice and screamed at us during matches. My coach yelling this has actually helped me persevere through some of my toughest matches.

                I also believe that it is stupid to give into negative peer pressure. If it goes against something I believe or do not want to do I do not do it. It is hard to remember that there is positive peer pressure as well. I have a friend who did not play football and I convinced him to play and now he starts varsity as a sophomore.