In our little mountain community, football is KING, and a major source of entertainment for everyone. It's not the professional teams, or even the college teams that I'm speaking of. The talk of the town is the Friday night high school football schedule. Around every shop, every office, and every diner, people cuss and discuss the latest football scores and highlights of the games. If you want a seat for a game in my town, you better arrive at least an hour early, or you'll be sitting next to the tuba player in the band. You'll also have to park 1/2 a mile away, or make your own parking spot in a nearby field. Nearly everyone dresses up in their Friday best for a football game, and no amount of team spirit is considered overkill.
Our local newspaper has highlights of every game played on the mountain, and on Friday nights, the entire game is televised on the local radio and cable stations. Our team coverage is almost like the NFL....only better. You can always hear someone you know cheering in the crowd over the ever popular cow bell ringing. Hearing it on the radio is the next best thing to being there in person.
And the rivalries are spectacular! Our kids are taught from the time they get out of diapers to harass the cross town rivals. It's just the way it is. We bleed our school's colors. Having good friends that live in the neighboring towns makes it even funner. There's no shortage of good natured ribbing after every game.
In fact, on our mountain, the kids start playing ball at an early age. By the time they reach high school, they've faced each other on the field for many years. Our boys will grow up playing against each other from elementary school to high school. Today was our son's first football game. To say that I was a nervous wreck was an understatement.
The game was a real "nail biter", but we came back in the second half to beat our neighboring town with a score of 12-6. If we would have lost to the Cougars, my son would have moped around for the whole day. At this age, there are ALOT of hilarious errors that happen on the field, and you just never know how things are going to turn out.
My son is just beginning to understand how to play the game, but he's not alone out there. These boys are all just out having fun, and learning the fundamentals of the game. They just love to be "boys" and tackle each other. It's a great release for a guy with two little sisters at home that he has to be careful with.
Speaking of little sisters, these two gals are my son's biggest fans! They couldn't wait for the big game. They ran into their brother's room this morning to wake him up and get him pumped up. First they blasted Kenny Chesney's "Boys of Fall", then they played, "We Will, We Will Rock You". I think it worked. After a plate of waffles with peanut butter and a glass of orange juice, he was ready to play hard.
Here we are before the game, roasting in the hot sun. My husband is the cool, calm, and collected fan. I'm the whole hearted screamer who wishes that I could be on the field to yell for my boy. I got in trouble once today for waving to him. He waved back, and my husband said I was distracting him. I couldn't help it. He looked so darn cute in his uniform. I'm also the one that gives him the "go out there and kick some rear end" pep talk. This goes back to my competitive nature. It's a small character flaw I have, but I'm getting better... my husband only had to calm me down once or twice today. All in all, it was a gorgeous Saturday to watch a football game. I couldn't have asked for a better day.
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