Football. What a beautiful word. It’s that time of year again. For some of us, this time of the year is like what Christmas is for a kid. Arguably, this is the greatest time of the year. The weather is changing, the leaves are starting to change colours and football is dominating the nation’s activity. The NFL has kicked off their season, high schools are several games into their season and the colleges have already had a few big time match-ups. It is truly a great time to be a football fan.
I love the Redskins, I love the Nittany Lions of Penn State and I also love the Bulldogs of Georgia. But the real football is being played, in large part, on Friday nights at a high school field near you. This is where the players are still playing because they love the game. The money, fame and fortune hasn’t gotten to these guys yet. I mean, when is the last time you heard of a high school player “holding out” or “getting a redshirt season”. Hell, when I played football, being “red shirted” meant that you weren’t allowed to be tackled. They were usually reserved for the “precious QB”. I used to hit them anyway. I even lied to my coach and said that I was color blind. That worked until I realized that if I did it one more time, my legs might fall off from running laps.
Friday night high school football was a gift from above. Why? Because that gives you football on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And thanks to ESPN, some Thursday college ball as well.
Perhaps your wife isn’t a saint like mine and she says things like “I am sick of football!” and then makes you watch Trading Spaces or A Baby Story or something like that. If that is the case, here are a few suggestions to help you make it through the entire football season:
1. A picture in picture TV
2. Sit through the shows and start making comments about the stuff going on, like “that designer is so in touch with the feelings in that room” or “that guy is totally insensitive to his wife’s feelings as she gives birth”. Not only will she throw you out of the room, but she will not ask you to watch them again,
3. Use this time to visualize football, end-zone dances and build your fantasy Redskin team. plays Just make sure your eyes stay open or it will be considered sleeping.
* – I will give some other tips on how to survive later in the season, but remember this emergency tip, if YOU think you have watched “too much football”, take your significant other out for dinner right away, they’ve earned it
Do yourself a favor, take in a high school game or even some Pop Warner games. It will do your heart good to see players who aren’t making more money in a day than most of us will make in a week. You never know when you will see the next budding NCAA or NFL superstar. That is where all our favorite Redskins started. And make sure that you buy a program, game ball tickets and maybe a hot chocolate or two, all high schools can use the revenue.
The Wingman
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Les Barnhart