Got this off your site years ago...Still great
I Love High School Football
I awoke this morning and Fourth of July festivities were in the past. We’ve now entered my favorite time of year: high school football preseason. Every player on every team is dreaming of stardom and state championships. No one has been hit by the injury bug. Coaches are still dreaming of the mysterious new student who will show up the first day of practice: 6’5”, 260 lbs., 4.2 in the 40, 4.0 GPA, 0.2% body fat, parents who make no requests. Referees haven’t heard about one of their calls and still are hoping for a season in which they never have to throw a flag. Cheerleaders have already been to cheering camp and marching bands are starting to flesh out those routines. I thank God every day for high school football. I can’t wait.
I’ve seen the smash mouth style football played with so much community pride in Southwest Virginia. I’ve seen the dynasties of Southside Virginia (Lunenburg, Nottoway). I’ve watched the workingman style ball that has grown up in the Shenandoah Valley. I’ve seen powerhouse AAA
schools from NOVA and the coast. I’ve seen single A ball where coaches manage to make do with whatever boys happen to pass their physicals in the school that year and I’ve seen AAA behemoths where you don’t get on the field if you weigh less than 190 or run the forty in 5
point anything. Here’s what I love about high school football no matter where it is played.
I love it!
I love the clever offenses and defenses that you’ll never see in the NFL or NCAA. I love the kid who does his job game in and game out and never gets his name in the paper. I love the kid who rushes for 345 yards on 6 carries with 6 touchdowns.
I love it!
I love the coach who calls a hook-and-ladder with 6 seconds left to win the game. I love the coach who calls the triple-punt pass only to have it intercepted for a touchdown. I love coaches who like blood and guts and would only throw the ball if they thought God himself ordered it. I love the coach who spreads the field and throws it all over the place even if at the end of the year their quarterback only completed 30% of his passes and the team went 2-8. I love the parents, girlfriends, and siblings who live and die with every snap of the ball hoping their boy will make the big play and more importantly will finish the game uninjured. I love the parent who misses the big game in order to work the concession stand to raise money for that much-needed blocking sled. I love the parents who shake the coach’s hand win or lose and hug their son after the game no matter how much it embarrasses him. I love the cheerleaders who give their all every game and keep cheering even when the less-than-faithful fans have given up and gone home. I love the cheerleaders that keep on plugging even though it started raining and the temperature dropped to 33 degrees. Maybe we need to pay them back by attending their competitions (yes, they are athletes). I love the big glorious bands that have costumes, flag lines, cart-wheeling drum majors and baton wizards. I love the toot-toot-bang-bang reviews that only have 12 members but play their hearts out and get better every week. I love funky bands that are inspired by Virginia State and Grambling. I love traditional bands that only play Sousa. I love the announcers at the game. I love the understated guy who simply gives us ball carrier, tackler, yards gained and down and distance. I also love the guy who thinks he’s John Madden and gets all fired up, questions referees calls and says hello to his friends in the crowd over the public PA. I love concession stands, especially when they have at least one thing they sell that are really proud of.
I love watching the pre-game warm-ups when both teams are just trying to look meaner than the other. I love a little trash talking in the paper and a little smack on the message boards.
I love watching a team gather together to pray before a game even though no adult told them they should. I love watching handshakes after a game when both teams know they faced an opponent who gave his all. I love watching the referees scramble off the field before too many people think to talk them about that penalty they called with 0:06 left on the clock. I love 50-50 drawings, local businesses that advertise in the program even though it probably won’t bring them even one more customer. I love the sheriff’s deputies shooting the breeze with members of the community. I love seeing principals talking with the kids and I love 6 year old girls who cheer as mascots with the cheerleaders. I love it when the two’s get in the game and actually score. I love it when a punt goes 70 yards and when it only goes 2. I love it when a play is so confusing that the referees have to talk for five minutes to sort it out. I love a big hit, a QB sack, a 90 yard run, a blocked kick, a broken play that goes for a touchdown, a long bomb (even if it’s dropped). I love it when a kick hits the upright (whether it bounces through or not). I even love touchbacks. I love onside kicks, 4th down and goal, 3rd and short, 1st and 25. I love it that I know the difference in a muff and a fumble. I love safeties. I love the playoffs, I love it when two 0-9 teams face off. I love it upsets, I love overtimes and I love blowouts.
I love it!
I love getting in the car ANYWHERE in the state on Friday night and being able to pick up several high school games on the air, even if I’m the only one listening. I love coming home and getting online to see the scores and watching the local television stations for scores and highlights. I love getting the paper on Saturday morning and reading about a game that I already saw and all the other games. I love hunting down that one score that nobody seems to have. I love that I know the difference in a dive, a power and a trap. I love wondering if the defense really plans to sit in that 4-4 all night or if they will adjust after another couple of big runs. I love wondering if that linebacker is division I material. I love parent’s night and homecoming. I love a long road trip and love hosting our most hated rivals. I love watching the bats catch the bugs in the lights and I love schools with no lights that play on Saturday afternoon. I love watching the streamers blow on top of the goal posts. I love that there is always a great pick-up game going on behind the bleachers and that there are a lot of middle school students at the game just to talk to their friends. I love it when the crowd claps even when the other team’s star gets up after an injury and that we go quiet together when we see them bring out an ambulance. I love it that we have after game parties. I love homecoming parades. I love it when they tell us the J.V. score over the PA and I love it when they tell us how the field hockey team is doing. I love tailgating, running in to people I haven’t seen in years, and watching my kids eat popcorn. I love getting in the car and cutting the heat on after a particularly cold night. I love eating at the local greasy spoon before the game. I love football players strapping on their pads in silence while coaches sit in their office and chew their nails. I love it when a game is “for all the marbles,” and I love it when the kids are playing for nothing but pride. I love it when the coach keeps reminding his kids to “get back,” and then gets tangled in the chains the very next play. I love it when the cheerleaders run to the end zone to cheer for the extra point. I love it when a welcoming party greets the team after a big win, and I love it when a greeting party awaits the team after a heartbreaking loss. I love kids who are honorable mention for all-district and I love kids on the scout D. I love people diligently keeping stats on every play of the game and the four managers who keep everything working smoothly. I love the way the field looks when it is freshly lined and mowed. I love the way it looks on week 8 when a year’s worth of battles and
drought has rendered it mostly grassless. I love that football players are football players at least for four months a year instead of being rich kids or poor kids or white kids or black kids or cool kids or nerds or smart kids or dumb kids. I love that kids never forget their coaches.
I Love High School Football
I awoke this morning and Fourth of July festivities were in the past. We’ve now entered my favorite time of year: high school football preseason. Every player on every team is dreaming of stardom and state championships. No one has been hit by the injury bug. Coaches are still dreaming of the mysterious new student who will show up the first day of practice: 6’5”, 260 lbs., 4.2 in the 40, 4.0 GPA, 0.2% body fat, parents who make no requests. Referees haven’t heard about one of their calls and still are hoping for a season in which they never have to throw a flag. Cheerleaders have already been to cheering camp and marching bands are starting to flesh out those routines. I thank God every day for high school football. I can’t wait.
I’ve seen the smash mouth style football played with so much community pride in Southwest Virginia. I’ve seen the dynasties of Southside Virginia (Lunenburg, Nottoway). I’ve watched the workingman style ball that has grown up in the Shenandoah Valley. I’ve seen powerhouse AAA
schools from NOVA and the coast. I’ve seen single A ball where coaches manage to make do with whatever boys happen to pass their physicals in the school that year and I’ve seen AAA behemoths where you don’t get on the field if you weigh less than 190 or run the forty in 5
point anything. Here’s what I love about high school football no matter where it is played.
I love it!
I love the clever offenses and defenses that you’ll never see in the NFL or NCAA. I love the kid who does his job game in and game out and never gets his name in the paper. I love the kid who rushes for 345 yards on 6 carries with 6 touchdowns.
I love it!
I love the coach who calls a hook-and-ladder with 6 seconds left to win the game. I love the coach who calls the triple-punt pass only to have it intercepted for a touchdown. I love coaches who like blood and guts and would only throw the ball if they thought God himself ordered it. I love the coach who spreads the field and throws it all over the place even if at the end of the year their quarterback only completed 30% of his passes and the team went 2-8. I love the parents, girlfriends, and siblings who live and die with every snap of the ball hoping their boy will make the big play and more importantly will finish the game uninjured. I love the parent who misses the big game in order to work the concession stand to raise money for that much-needed blocking sled. I love the parents who shake the coach’s hand win or lose and hug their son after the game no matter how much it embarrasses him. I love the cheerleaders who give their all every game and keep cheering even when the less-than-faithful fans have given up and gone home. I love the cheerleaders that keep on plugging even though it started raining and the temperature dropped to 33 degrees. Maybe we need to pay them back by attending their competitions (yes, they are athletes). I love the big glorious bands that have costumes, flag lines, cart-wheeling drum majors and baton wizards. I love the toot-toot-bang-bang reviews that only have 12 members but play their hearts out and get better every week. I love funky bands that are inspired by Virginia State and Grambling. I love traditional bands that only play Sousa. I love the announcers at the game. I love the understated guy who simply gives us ball carrier, tackler, yards gained and down and distance. I also love the guy who thinks he’s John Madden and gets all fired up, questions referees calls and says hello to his friends in the crowd over the public PA. I love concession stands, especially when they have at least one thing they sell that are really proud of.
I love watching the pre-game warm-ups when both teams are just trying to look meaner than the other. I love a little trash talking in the paper and a little smack on the message boards.
I love watching a team gather together to pray before a game even though no adult told them they should. I love watching handshakes after a game when both teams know they faced an opponent who gave his all. I love watching the referees scramble off the field before too many people think to talk them about that penalty they called with 0:06 left on the clock. I love 50-50 drawings, local businesses that advertise in the program even though it probably won’t bring them even one more customer. I love the sheriff’s deputies shooting the breeze with members of the community. I love seeing principals talking with the kids and I love 6 year old girls who cheer as mascots with the cheerleaders. I love it when the two’s get in the game and actually score. I love it when a punt goes 70 yards and when it only goes 2. I love it when a play is so confusing that the referees have to talk for five minutes to sort it out. I love a big hit, a QB sack, a 90 yard run, a blocked kick, a broken play that goes for a touchdown, a long bomb (even if it’s dropped). I love it when a kick hits the upright (whether it bounces through or not). I even love touchbacks. I love onside kicks, 4th down and goal, 3rd and short, 1st and 25. I love it that I know the difference in a muff and a fumble. I love safeties. I love the playoffs, I love it when two 0-9 teams face off. I love it upsets, I love overtimes and I love blowouts.
I love it!
I love getting in the car ANYWHERE in the state on Friday night and being able to pick up several high school games on the air, even if I’m the only one listening. I love coming home and getting online to see the scores and watching the local television stations for scores and highlights. I love getting the paper on Saturday morning and reading about a game that I already saw and all the other games. I love hunting down that one score that nobody seems to have. I love that I know the difference in a dive, a power and a trap. I love wondering if the defense really plans to sit in that 4-4 all night or if they will adjust after another couple of big runs. I love wondering if that linebacker is division I material. I love parent’s night and homecoming. I love a long road trip and love hosting our most hated rivals. I love watching the bats catch the bugs in the lights and I love schools with no lights that play on Saturday afternoon. I love watching the streamers blow on top of the goal posts. I love that there is always a great pick-up game going on behind the bleachers and that there are a lot of middle school students at the game just to talk to their friends. I love it when the crowd claps even when the other team’s star gets up after an injury and that we go quiet together when we see them bring out an ambulance. I love it that we have after game parties. I love homecoming parades. I love it when they tell us the J.V. score over the PA and I love it when they tell us how the field hockey team is doing. I love tailgating, running in to people I haven’t seen in years, and watching my kids eat popcorn. I love getting in the car and cutting the heat on after a particularly cold night. I love eating at the local greasy spoon before the game. I love football players strapping on their pads in silence while coaches sit in their office and chew their nails. I love it when a game is “for all the marbles,” and I love it when the kids are playing for nothing but pride. I love it when the coach keeps reminding his kids to “get back,” and then gets tangled in the chains the very next play. I love it when the cheerleaders run to the end zone to cheer for the extra point. I love it when a welcoming party greets the team after a big win, and I love it when a greeting party awaits the team after a heartbreaking loss. I love kids who are honorable mention for all-district and I love kids on the scout D. I love people diligently keeping stats on every play of the game and the four managers who keep everything working smoothly. I love the way the field looks when it is freshly lined and mowed. I love the way it looks on week 8 when a year’s worth of battles and
drought has rendered it mostly grassless. I love that football players are football players at least for four months a year instead of being rich kids or poor kids or white kids or black kids or cool kids or nerds or smart kids or dumb kids. I love that kids never forget their coaches.
