If you were on social media last week, you probably saw many fans, and even some prep reporters, tweet about how excited they were that the high school football season was upon us.
But I think the excited tweet of the week goes to Ryan Michalesko, a photographer from the Dallas Morning News, who tweeted: “I accidentally sat down in a fire ant nest to transmit tonight. But I don’t even care because I am so happy that high school football is back!”
You know, I like high school football as much as the next person, but I kind of think if that happened to me, I would care.
But maybe I’m just wacky that way.
Still, in high school sports, there is nothing that can compare to the excitement of a Friday night in the fall.
The buzz, the bands, the cheerleaders, the big crowds all accentuate the action on the field. And I’ve never met a prep reporter who didn’t like it.
But I like to temper my outward enthusiasm for prep football because I feel it can undermine the excitement that can happen in the other sports of the fall season.
So with the fall sports season hitting full stride this week, I’m going to list some of things I like about fall sports, other than football (and I got an assist from Columbian colleagues Meg Wochnick and Jeff Klein).
Volleyball: As Meg put it best, in volleyball, there is a celebration on every play. And when you think of it, even in the most lopsided matches, there are still nearly 100 celebrations.
Girls soccer: While celebrations are fewer — much fewer — the anticipation of those celebrations is what I like about soccer. The build-up of excitement, and then the anguish, when scoring opportunities are so close, and then so far away.
Cross country: As a former cross country runner, I can say this with confidence and affection: Cross country runners are quirky. And often that quirkiness comes out in the slogans the runners put on their team shirts. My favorite is “Our sport is your sport’s punishment.”
