I have to give kudos to Tracy Solheim over at Women Unplugged today. She brought up a great post. Friday night football.
For those not in the South, you may not be familiar with this phenomenon. It’s a crazed but controlled and expected type of chaos that has an entire town donning the team colors and trotting enmass to stadiums from Texas to Georgia.
You don’t have a choice really. I think it’s in the embryotic fluid before we are born. You just know.
My particular hometown is in Texas…where football ranks right up there with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
And I’m talking high school football, in a town that bleeds purple and white. People have season tickets that they bought in 1940, and have passed down their seats to their kids and grandkids. No one gives them up. You go to games on Friday night from the time you are 2 till you are 92. Fire hydrants are either purple or white.
Our team is the Indians, and the fight song is Cherokee played by the marching band in a marching “I” which has been a tradition since the 50′s, and there are custom car horns made to play it. When the team makes it to the playoffs, the entire town hits the road. Small children have the obligatory cheerleader/indianette/indian spirit costumes on, their faces painted, watching their heroes of choice and dreaming of the day it will be them.
I grew up in this town, lived around the country, and then came back, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen this fever anywhere else. There was even a book written about our school and this tradition!!!
“Down The Trails of Victory” (which are words in the fight song)
Do you live somewhere that has over the top traditions like this? Tell me!
Sheila Seabrook says
I love to watch movies where these football traditions play a big part (one with Kneau Reeves comes to mind but I can’t remember the name). Amazing pictures, Sharla, and I enjoyed your recap of your town’s football fever. Thanks for sharing!
ramblingsfromtheleft says
First Sharla, I have updated the link on my blog, looked at the web page and bingo … here we are 🙂 I loved this post because it once again confirms the fact that people are nuts in the most wonderful ways.
I grew up when most New Yorkers were crazed baseball fans, since at that time we had three major league teams, and where for decades we heard stories of the famed “subway” World Series. Nope, my first exposure to the south was being born in South Brooklyn where Friday night dances at somebody’s “parish” church basement and street games ruled 🙂