What???? Yes, I am expanding the scope of my commentary on sports to include other sports regular guys (that includes regular girls too) are into, and that includes good old fashioned, pound you in the turf football. People who think an insane allegiance to purveyors of the pigskin is relegated to Texas has never been to southern Oregon. We’re CRAZY about football here, all the way down the high school ranks.
September has to be my favorite time of year. The mornings are crisp and cool until the warming sun brings to a rather pleasant afternoon, complete with a picturesque view of yellows, reds and greens among the trees. Pass by any high school stadium and you’ll see young men, and occasionally a young woman or two dashing towards tackling dummies and doing the dreaded “tire drill.” Friday nights are a sacred time throughout our fair land, where rivals contend for hometown pride in search of sports immortality.
Nobody will ever confuse Medford, Ashland, Central Point or even Butte Falls with Shreveport, Plano, or Tuscaloosa, but even the rural Northwest has given the NFL its fair share of representatives: Steelers safety Troy Palumalu, former Saints, Giants and Bucs punter Tom Blanchard, former Panthers, Colts and Saints safety Chad Cota (whom I had the pleasure of covering while on the broadcast team for Ashland High games on KCMX radio), former Raider and Bill linebacker “Earthquake” Enyart, and former Vikings, Falcons and Broncos offensive lineman Andy Maurer. Yep, we’re produ of our hometown guys.
Whether you’re talking high school ball, our beloved Ducks and Beavers (or my alma mater- the Southern Oregon University Raiders, an NAIA school), or the Seahawks to the north, or the Raider and Niners to the south- we love our football in southern Oregon, and I’ll bet you do too.
2008 is already off to a promising start: the Ducks walloped the despised Huskies 44-10 Saturday night, the South Meford Panthers flexed a little muscle in their Friday night win over West Salem and my SOU Raiders avenged a 2007 loss with thrilling win Thursday night over Montana Tech.
Soon the NFL game will begin in earnest. What a year it will be. After shaking the football world with an upset win over New England, some pundits arent sure the New York Giants will make the playoffs. Questions abound about the health of Tom Brady and the Patriots ability to make another strong run. Will this be the year San Diego finally wins it all? I think so myself. And I’m also my Denver Broncos witness another chapter in the coming of age of our next great hope: Jay Cutler. I’m a believer.
Regardless of who your team is, I think all we football fans agree. When it comes to 2008,
BRING IT ON!!!!!
