Even if you’ve never been to a Texas high school
football game, you probably know that these games and the fans who
follow them are somewhat different than other high school football
games and fans. In Texas, football isn’t a sport and it isn’t an
extra-curricular activity. No, it’s almost been elevated to the level
of a religion. To say that Texas high school football fans are
passionate about the spot would be an understatement; a huge
understatement.
Friday Night Lights may have been first a popular
book and then a film but it all started with the true story of one
season with the Odessa Permian Panthers. Hollywood didn’t need to pump
up the real life story of this Texas high school team with fabrication;
the real story was already enough of a legend to carry it all the way
to the silver screen.
If you think you know high school football,
you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen it from the Lone Star
State. Even the smaller schools really get involved. It’s not uncommon
to see entire caravans traveling the Texas highways on Friday nights;
the football team, drill team, cheerleaders, marching band and sponsor.
All of that can easily require a dozen buses or so. And that’s not even
including the hordes of parents and fans that travel right along with
them. In relatively few other events will you see devoted fans travel
hundreds of miles for a playoff game; and keep in mind that in Texas
that’s entirely possible. The border from east to west stretches almost
one thousand miles.
So, what is it exactly about Texas high
school football in particular that seems to appeal to such a mass
audience? While there may be no definitive answer for that question,
there is definitely one certainty: nothing else on earth has quite the
same intensity and passion to it. You can feel it reverberating in the
air when you step into any high school football stadium throughout the
state.
High school football fans in Texas are not just passionate
about football; they live it and breathe it. On any given Friday night
during football season in Texas you’re likely to see just about as much
violence in the stands as you are on the turf if one fan happens to
aggravate another.
And that’s not even mentioning the rivalry
that can take place between teams in Texas. While it’s not uncommon at
all for neighboring towns throughout the country to form high school
football rivalries, Texans take it to a whole new level. In many cases,
extra policeman have to be called out during big rival games just to
keep the peace among the crowd. In a few instances, some towns had to
stop even playing one another at all because of the violence that
ensued between fans in the stands and on the sidelines during rival
games.
The exact allure of Texas high school football may be
somewhat difficult to describe, but one thing is certain: you feel it
when you experience it.
If the rest of the world loves soccer, Texans love football.
Joe Kenny is a fan of many sports but soccer is the main love of his life, he writes for the UK football forum site, FootballTalk.org. Join the soccer forum for free today and have your say!
Visit today: http://footballtalk.org/
Subscribe to this comment's feed