The temps are taking a northern turn, kids roaming Woony on bikes have been put behind classroom doors and the dimwits in Washington are bickering like children as the yearly government shutdown date looms near.
What does this all mean? It’s football season!
What would fall be without football? A dreary, cold, brown, depressing season inevitably leading into a drearier, colder, white depressing season.
So God made football.
I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I enjoy watching football on all levels. Last Friday night I got to watch the little guys (and girl) be heroes under the lights at Wessington Springs. This is the first year in our communities for this third through sixth grade football program and it has been met with tons of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm enough for plenty of kids that four teams can scrimmage against each other.
One may argue that third, fourth, etc. grade kids are too young to play tackle football … and one may have a point. But think about this … what are these kids doing anyway — at home, at recess, after school, in the back of the end zone of high school football games? Playing football, or sometimes a namely rougher version I remember as a child called, “Kill the Carrier”.
Kids will be kids. They will get hurt from time to time. We can’t put them in a bubble, as it seems mainstream America wants to these days. Yes, football is a rough sport, but it’s part of our culture, and despite more and more criticism for its violence, it’s not going away anytime soon. Doesn’t it make sense to give these kids pads and helmets to do what they were doing anyway?
These little gridders are fun to watch and their skill level at this early age is really kind of amazing. It will be exciting watching them develop these skills throughout the next years. In no time at all we will be cheering them on under the Friday night lights, while the next generation mimics their high school heroes in the back of the end zone.
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Good luck goes out to the Blackhawks as they host Sunshine Bible for Friday night’s homecoming game. The boys are coming off of an early bye week preceded by a well-earned overtime win against Mt. Vernon/Plankinton. The Blackhawks are 1-1 going into this game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Forestburg.
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This weekend is an exciting one for Jacks fans (that’s South Dakota State … you know THE state school … NOT the mangy mutts that wear red). For just the third time in history, SDSU will play the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Big deal? Yes, sir! The University of Nebraska at Lincoln is one of those 10 schools considered to be of the elite. That would be why they put them in the “Big Ten” Conference.
Last time these two met in 2010 … well, it wasn’t a complete blow out as many expected. This year the Jacks are 3-0 heading down to Lincoln and considered one of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) with a number six ranking. Could they cause some trouble for the Huskers, who are 2-1 and were recently dropped from national ranking? Hard to say, but who really cares?
The exciting part is that SDSU is receiving well-deserved national attention; that people are learning where li’l ol’ Brookings is located on the map. Brookings, the town I called home for a few short years, the town that nearly doubles in size during the school year, the town that proudly celebrates hobos.
Well I, for one, will throw on something blue and make the trek to Lincoln this weekend to see for myself what all the hype is about.
GO JACKS!