High School Football
A recent weather change brought the smell of autumn to my nose yesterday and signaled to my body that high school football season is upon us. I love high school football!!! This is my favorite time of year as local boys from our community come together to form a team that will represent the school as they go out and compete against other schools from local communities. I live in a small town in a small state but high school football is the same everywhere. The high school football team is the embodiment of a community’s toughness. It is as American as apple pie and the National Anthem.
I believe that high school football is the last bastion of manhood for the American male. Football requires a willingness to put the group ahead of the personal ego. It requires the physical toughness, mental focus, and the ability to work together to be successful. Playing football doesn’t build character… playing football exposes a young man’s character.
It is the great social equalizer. Football requires so many different positions and skill sets that any young man willing to be part of the team can make a contribution. No one cares if you are rich or poor, your race, country of origin, where you go to church, or if your dad is a doctor or the town drunk, or whether or not your mother teaches Sunday school or if she is the town pump. All that matters is that the young man be willing to sell out for the greater glory of the group. The young man must do his job and pull together with the other members to achieve victory.
High school football is the only real resistance to the feminization of the American male and the soccer-ization of the country as a whole. The young American male is under constant pressure to be ultra sensitive and fair (fair being defined as giving something to someone that they didn’t earn). High school football is not Little League; no one gets two innings and an at bat for showing up. It is pure competition and only the best take the field. No trophies are awarded for second, third, or fourth place. There aren’t 9 co-captains the team is lead by 2 or 3 Captains (the best leaders on the team).
I believe that God is a great fan of football. Jesus built his team with 12 disciples. He picked 12 because he knew he needed a back up quarterback in case he went down (Saint Peter) and he needed a kicker. Allegedly Saint Andrew had quite a foot on him. I am not sure but I think it was Saint Paul in his letter to the Delawareans where the term “Wing-T” was first used. (That maybe a mis-quote)
I can’t wait for Friday night lights at the local stadium… over boiled hotdogs and bad coffee… our local boys wearing the school colors… the band playing… the stomping of aluminum bleachers… the referees whistle… until finally KICKOFF!!!
Best of luck to you and your local team this year! I hope your school wins them all unless they play my school then I hope you win 9 games!
“Big Dirty“
Tags: feminization, friday night lights, high school football, manhood
I’ve been a high school football fan since the womb! I’m lucky enough to live in a small town too, Big Dirty, and I’m even luckier to be within earshot of the stadium. The sounds of the band, the fans, the ref’s whistle…ahhh. it’s a lullabye to me!
I lived behind the high school I attended and when I was growing up I remember the band playing and the cannon going off everytime our team scored too and it rattling the windows in the house. Great memories! My time has long since past. But I still get excited when I watch those young men go out and make those memories that I know will stay with them the rest of their lives.