Despite the end of summer and schools starting earlier, one thing has escalated across the southeastern portion of the United States — the beginning of football season.
Even though professional preseason starts as early as the first week of August nowadays, the South has become a community model for supporting football at all levels: youth recreation, high school, college, and professional.
As most learn in church or at Sunday school, the Lord always gives you another chance. This is the epitome of football in the South — every fall, you get a new chance.
Local southern schools have turned these into weekly events with games and booster club meetings all week. Even marching bands, cheerleaders, and dance teams have come to be an essential part of football, more than any other sport since athletics were instilled among communities over 100 years ago.
Even with the ridicule of the South because of many other factors, the gridiron traditions and patronage of each town bring the community together. Differences can be viewed through a separate lens, but the Friday night lights remain powerful.
Books, movies, songs, television shows, radio stations, newspapers, social media, and all other communication ties have become enamored with football at all levels, especially in the South. For most of the southeastern United States, most are silently judged by the school they went to, the football team they support, and the church they go to. Not exactly in that chronological order.
Training camps for all teams of all levels have become synonymous with hard work, practice in the sun, and potential for that upcoming season. Everyone is nervous but excited to believe in the possibility of having a great season.
This is one of the many reasons football will always be dominant in the South. Every year is a fresh start. Some traditions are the same, but every single year, there are changes and different outcomes.
Therefore, the boys of fall will always bring hope and a chance that you won’t get anywhere else.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of SuperTalk Mississippi Media.
