[SweetLemonade]

Because the Friday night lights is the best football atmosphere in the world.

[Jumper Dad]

High School Football is the best because it is PERSONAL.

You follow it because...
It's your home town team
It's your alma matre
It's the team you played for
It's your son's team
It's the neighbor kids team
You know a kid from church that plays
Your best friend has a kid playing
Your daughter is a cheerleader
Your grandchild or nephew is playing
Your friends with the coach

In all cases High School Football is PERSONAL...

You shed a tear on Senior night...
You see the pain on the players faces when their season ends...
You wait for them after the game to feed them, hug them or just wish them well...
You see these players and coaches around town...
The High School Team is YOUR TEAM, it's personal.

[Againstme!]

Because its the only thing in this world that people will always go to and enjoy on Friday nights.
When the week is over and Friday afternoon rolls around, the anticipation that has gathered for the whole week, or maybe the whole year, comes to life for 2 short hours. It's something the community, parents, students, and everyone else can share in common and cheer for and agree on.
As a player, you will only get the opportunity to play high school football for four years, no matter what, that's it, and for some players that could only be 40 games.
All that hard work, weightlifting, two a days, conditioning, for 40 games and around 80 hours, and i have worked more than that in a week.
Once your gone, your gone, that stardom, that prestige, that Letterman, there all gone. You could have been the best to ever come threw last year, but a year after you played your last game, there's a knew kid in town who everybody's talking about. Eventually you might get to see your own son in the same shoes you were in not long ago.
You form bonds that will last forever, and brothers who will always be a call away.

To put it simply, we love this game, this culture, and the moment were in.
To all current players i encourage you to soak up every last minute of this unforgettable experience,i was still going 100% on the very last play of my senior year and wouldn't change a thing about it. One of these days, like it or not, you're going to only be talking about it, preferably on bluegrassrivals with the rest of us, and the closest you will be able to get to a game is the bleachers watching where you once was.

Good luck to all the seniors this year, but not only in football, but in life, because all kinds of new opportunities and doors are about to open for you, and high school football will only be a memory, but it will be the best memory you have.

:worthy: couldnt say it better

[divadawg]

I think the lyrics to The Boys of Fall by Kenny Chesney really described the love of football to the non-player. Here they are:

When I feel that chill, smell that fresh cut grass/
I'm back in my helmet, cleats and shoulder pads/
Standing in the huddle listening to the call/
Fans going crazy for the boys of fall/
They didn't let just anybody in that club/
Took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood/
To get to wear those game day jerseys down the hall/
Kings of the school man, we're the boys of fall/

Well it's turn and face the Stars and Stripes/
It's fighting back them butterflies/
It's call it in the air, alright yes sir we want the ball/
And it's knocking heads and talking trash/
It's slinging mud and dirt and grass/
It's I got your number, I got your back when your back's against the wall/
You mess with one man you got us all/
The boys of fall/

In little towns like mine that's all they got/
Newspaper clippings fill the coffee shops/
The old men will always think they know it all/
Young girls will dream about the boys of fall/

Well it's turn and face the Stars and Stripes/
It's fighting back them butterflies/
It's call it in the air, alright yes sir we want the ball/
And it's knocking heads and talking trash/
It's slinging mud and dirt and grass/
It's I got your number, I got your back when your back's against the wall/
You mess with one man you got us all/

[kenorgia]

This is well put . I have two sons playing one is in the 3rd and the other in 7th grade one is a center and the other is a running back .And i would give anything to play again you have no ideal the fillings you get when your sons are on the field .And the talks you have before and after a game. IT is hard thing to give up! But helping these guys is the greatest thing in the world ! IT was worth it.

[hawg laig]

Even after 35 years, it still happens. It will be Friday and I will be heading home after a long week of work. There will be a certain smell in the air created by fallen, damp leaves. The breeze will pick up and blow through my open window and be cool but with a winter bite to it. At that moment an old song from the 70's will come on the radio. The last time it was Bad Co. At those moments my heart will start racing and my mind will drift. Suddenly I'm a 17 year old nose guard, ready for the next play.
I had the opportunity to pay small college ball, but passed. I realized even at an early age that trying to recapture that feeling was like trying to catch lightening in a jar.

[thordog]

This game is truly a team sport where everyone is responsible for doing there job,I thank God to have been given a chance to be a part of this great game.

[RunItUpTheGut]

I wanted to name my first Bruno.lol, but of course my wife shot that down quick..Jordan Tyren and Gannon Reece sound like pretty good names though.lol

Haha the woman always get the picks.

[Patriot]

I will always believe a successful 1st season brought each community together that made up the consolidated Harlan County High School! Three years later we are the Black Bear Nation! Great posts from everyone!!!

I wonder how many highlight videos will include Boys of Fall?

[RunItUpTheGut]

a fantastic reply. You have summed up every former high school football player and parents feelings and emotions.

:Thumbs:

[vundy33]

Don't call high school football players "Soldiers". I'm sure you didn't mean any harm, but it was just a stupid comment. If you want to call them something to compare them to a real Soldier, call them a "warrior" or something. But otherwise, that's just a dumb thing to say, especially the way you said it.

[vundy33]

lol, if my son doesn't play football in high school, I'll disown him.