Randy Smith
It's the first of August. Though the temperatures are still raging hot, football is here. Teams are practicing.....the high schools are playing scrimmages and are set to open the season in three weeks.....college teams will open in four weeks and the pros will kick things off in five weeks. Middle school teams opened their season Thursday night and excitement continues to mount. There is just a certain feeling you have. I can't explain it.
It's the feeling you get when stores feature back to school sales and when the air cools down just a little bit you think, "Fall is in the air." Kids are going back to school and those who start later are busy decorating their lockers and picking up class schedules. Families are making trips to the mountains or the beaches as they make a final desperate effort to hang on to the last few weeks of summer.
Football is as much a part of autumn as changing leaves, harvesting apples and returning to school from summer vacation. While spring is all about a rebirth so to speak, fall is about new beginnings. Every team starts the season unbeaten and while only half the teams make it unbeaten past the first week of the season there is plenty of time to improve and get better. As students advance to the next grade in school, there's always the "back to school" photos on Facebook.
With the high temps recently, I'm reminded of a phrase I heard from former Hixson head football coach Dan Duff. At a pre-season scrimmage a few years ago, it was sweltering. Even at 6:00 in the evening it was miserably hot and humid. Coach Duff was listening to a few fans who were standing nearby....talking football and cursing the heat. One of them said, "It may almost be football season, but this is sure not football weather."
Coach Duff smiled and replied, "Oh yes it is. This is southern football weather."
I've never forgotten it, especially when I hear folks complaining about the heat in August. I wish high schools would start playing games a little bit later, like after Labor Day, as it was when I was in school. Heck, school never started until the Tuesday after Labor Day. and the season always began on the Friday of that week. Now, some schools go back the first week of August and week "zero" in prep football begins on Aug. 22. I guess it has to start that early so the TSSAA can get five playoff rounds in.
Until it finally frosts, enjoy football and stay hydrated when you're out in this "southern football weather."
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com