A feeling like that...

I miss it. I miss the feeling. The lights. The crowd. The band! The friends. Half-time. Everything about it. I miss Friday night football. I have to be honest though, it's not the same out here. I miss going to away games and having more people in our stands than in the home stands. I miss people being legitimately excited about every little thing that happened on the field; constant standing and cheering. I miss having a great football team. Slaughtering every team we played by at least fourty points.  I miss Sweet Child O' Mine; Barbara Ann; our drum cadence. Music even while the clock was running. I miss the cheerleaders being enthusiastic; smiling and laughing - actually interested in the game! The whole experience was phenomenal. The only place I've ever felt anything similar to that: a UNL game.

When I was in high school, on a Friday night in the little town of Plain City, Ohio, you'd find mostly everyone at the football field cheering on the Pioneers. We had a great team. We played great teams. Games were close; nervewracking; exciting! It's hard to put the feeling into words. But what I experienced those three seasons at Alder, I'll never forget.

Blair football never compared to that back home in Ohio. I was used to a great team. I was used to fans being psyced, loud, thrilled! Mom even said something to me after one of the Blair games about how awkward it was that the stands were pretty much silent. Bands don't travel to away games. They don't play while the clock is running. They're not allowed. I never understood it. Now that I've been out of high school for three seasons, I'd somewhat forgotten about it. I forgot how it felt to be in the stands at Blair. And I forgot how it felt back home.

I was reminded of it last night. My sister is a cheerleader. She loves it. She gets excited; she cheers; she smiles. The other ones don't. But what motivation do they have? The parents and fans that come don't cheer along with them. I'm sure the girls feel awkward. I can't blame them. And even though we won the game last night, it wasn't exciting. I was bored most of the night. I enjoyed the conversations with Dad and Corey more than watching the game. High school football shouldn't be like that.

I wish people could feel what it's like at an Alder game. They wouldn't be satisfied anymore, either.