Sweetwater Mustangs
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

It's a great time to be a fan of football

Go down

It's a great time to be a fan of football Empty It's a great time to be a fan of football

Post  Kevin Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:52 pm

Click HERE to read the story at gofridaynight.com
It's a great time to be a fan of football

By Greg Jaklewicz
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

It's a great time to be a fan of football 42782
Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Wylie High School quarterback Matt Preston pitches the ball to a teammate during practice on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, at Wylie High School. Wylie opens their season at home Friday against Vernon.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Wylie High School quarterback Matt Preston pitches the ball to a teammate during practice on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, at Wylie High School. Wylie opens their season at home Friday against Vernon.
Wylie High School quarterback Matt Preston pitches the ball to a teammate during practice Wednesday at Wylie High School. Wylie opens its season at home Friday against Vernon. [photocredit]Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News[/photocredit]

Wylie High School quarterback Matt Preston pitches the ball to a teammate during practice Wednesday at Wylie High School. Wylie opens its season at home Friday against Vernon. [photocredit]Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News[/photocredit]

Story Tools

* E-mail story
* Comments
* iPod friendly
* Printer friendly

related linksMore Extra Points

* HART: Former Cooper athlete's team works way up from 0-10
* Sounds, smells of football return
* HS Notebook: Lions still consider Hernandez a part of team

Just in time for the start of football, a cool-down in the weather.

The crisp autumn nights under the lights probably are weeks away. But this weekend, who cares how hot it is? Is Christmas morning any less because there’s no snow on the ground?

Get on your pads. Tune up your horn. Put on your school colors. Flip the switch to the scoreboard. Let’s play some football.

The start of the season always brings back memories of seasons past. You tend to forget the bad games, though I still remember a Wylie touchdown on the final play of the game in 1976 at Baird being called off and the Bulldogs settling for a 6-6 tie with the Bears. Alan Miller clearly was in the end zone with the football.

OK, so that game sticks with me. But there are many more pleasant memories.

Back in the day, students and teachers bought spirit ribbons from cheerleaders. I still have quite a collection from my Wylie days — Bulldogs bop the Buffaloes, Bulldogs pound the Yellow Hammers. Too bad Rotan did the pounding back then.

I remember the pep rallies in the hot gym, the doors open and the sounds of the band spilling out. The players getting their gear together, the 8-track blasting out Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Four Wheel Drive.”

Wylie’s football stadium recently got a face-lift that rivals a Beverly Hills nip and tuck. The stadium used to be on the east side of the old campus on Buffalo Gap Road. The press box faced east and there was an unobstructed view of Lake Kirby. Watching the harvest moon rise over the water was quite a sight.

Back then, there was no such thing as being PC. The press box was for men; women were allowed entry only to make announcements or for the prayer.

Ed Cotton, the boys basketball coach, fired up his cigar. Others did, too. The original aromatherapy.

Road games were fun, too. I enjoyed the bus trips, though the coaches forbade talking on the way to the game. If you talked to someone, you weren’t thinking about your opponent.

A team captain leading the pregame cheer.

Who do you want? ROSCOE!

Who do you want? ROSCOE!

Who do you want? ROSCOE! YEAH!

The last game my senior year, we lost by a point to Roscoe. Didn’t want them bad enough.

As the stat keeper for the team, I spent my share of road games sitting in the stands. The press box was home turf. Not every school allowed “the enemy” in.

I remember a 0-0 game at Rotan, sitting out in what felt like zero-degree temperatures, my fingers frozen by moist winds. A Wylie running back broke loose but, running toward the end zone in the clear, slipped on the icy field. Game ended scoreless.

A smelly but warm locker room never felt better.

There are times in our often hectic lives when everything slows down and the moment is just right.

A moment like that for me was late in the third quarter. Home game and Wylie scoring to go comfortably ahead. The band starts playing “The Horse,” one of the best instrumentals to come out of the ’60s. The band guys were sick of playing it. But I loved it. You didn’t play “The Horse” when you were behind; you played it when your team was ahead. And Coach Cotton was firing up another cigar.

I think of those days when football season arrives every year. I’ve seen hundreds of games since high school. My favorite game still is Stamford upsetting Breckenridge in 1980, keeping the preseason No. 1 team in Class 3A out of the playoffs (back when only one team advanced).

Stamford now is 1A, I didn’t see yet another Roemisch as a player to watch at Hermleigh (those there’s a Shade Roemisch at Snyder), many football fields are now turf and The Little Southwest Conference is history, just like the big Southwest Conference.

Time marches on, but the excitement remains. Football means the start of deer season. The fair starts in a few weeks and surely a crisp autumn evening is coming.

Your favorite team is undefeated.

If you’re a football fan, life is way good.
Kevin
Kevin
Admin

Number of posts : 449
Age : 39
Location : Sweetwater Tx
Registration date : 2008-09-21

https://sweetwaterstangs.darkbb.com

Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum