WILL B
B.
It’s been a long drought, lasting months, I’m not speaking about the weather but the drought of no high school football. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief as my Cubs and Bobcats take the field for their scrimmages and pre-season games.
Football has always held a special spot in my heart because I grew up playing the sport that forges kids into men under the Friday Night Lights and the blistering Texas summer heat of two-a-days. The sport of football will also transform a group of individuals into a singular group called ‘team’!
For those that can handle the pressure under the Friday Night Lights and heat of the end of summer practice sessions, they will become part of the brotherhood of one of the most loved things of all Texans - high school football. The only thing that comes close to being loved as much in Texas is barbecue.
The sport is loved by many, and no one needs to have played the game to love it. Some of the best things about high school football are not found on the field. What makes Texas football special includes the family, friends and community that come together to support the teams. The apex of Texas high school football is small-town football; it’s almost a religion to some, though God will always come first if you ask most anyone at a game. Sitting elbow to elbow with neighbors, friends and sometimes strangers who will become friends by the end of a season, while chatting during lulls in the game or screaming and cheering during exciting moments is something special and can only be fully appreciated when doing so in person and not read about.
Fans drink cold icy drinks while eating BBQ hot links rolled up in tortillas in the summer and hot cocoa and Frito pies in the fall, intertwined by other treats like nachos and candy. No game is complete without a trip to the booster club trailer to eye the season’s new fan gear and maybe coming away with a new hat or shirt.
If you know anything about Texas football you know you are in for a real treat when the school band proudly marches on to the field to perform school fight songs and other songs that have already been played for hours upon hours during marching band practices. Olney High School has one of the best and most famous marching bands as well. People all over know that even if we don’t win a game, our band, lovingly called POOHS – short for Pride of Olney High School – will beat any opponent into submission. Refs have even penalized POOHS for being too loud on a few occasions, which is unheard of.
Look around an Olney Cub game and you will see what an amazing community we have and what true football fans we have!
Win or lose, Cub fans will always be at every game, away or home cheering the loudest for our Cubs! What do you love most about football or what is your favorite memory?
This is Will B saying, see you at the Cub game under those Friday Night Lights!