Tis the season...

Only two more weeks until the final kick off for high school football! In Visalia, we have two rivalries with two distinct names attached to them. There is the storied "Cowhide" game, between Redwood High and Mt. Whitney and the "Battle for the Saddle," a match up between Golden West High and El Diamante.

OK, full disclosure again ... I am not a football fan whatsoever, but I do understand the game and I also understand its allure. Start with a marching band, sqweeking it's way through a rendition of Star Wars, add a squad of cheerleaders, an over zealous crowd of parents and grandparents and, voila, you already have the makings of quite an event. But there is more! The chill in the air allows people to get a little closer to one another, and then, at just the right moment, the teams burst onto the playing field, energized by the roar of the crowd. And everyone has their favorite player. Some actually play, others sit on the bench, waiting for their moment, still others are participating spectators, creating a show completely separate from anything taking place in the green 100 yards. But they all are part of the game.

High school football renews my belief in the power of events to make us better. We cheer for others, so often difficult in our day to day, hoping THEY will run the play, reaching the goal, or preventing said same, depending on which side you are cheering. It isn't about me, but about "the team." HOW THRILLING it is to cheer for someone else? Is it possible that we could take this, well, attitude and apply it elsewhere?

Hmmmmmm. In my dreams the announcer says, "there's Susie Smith, All Star Procastinator, but look, she's about to do her homework. She lifts her pen and.....wait......wait.....YES, YES, YES!!!!!! She did it, she did one problem for Geometry! Woooooooooohooooooooo!" Parents go wild, band plays, cheerleaders do a HUGE Rah, Rah, Rah, Susie does a victory dance on her math book!

Or, "Dad has not been playing very well this season. He's been warming the bench when it comes to fixing the sink. Hold on, something is happening, Dad is getting up, he has a wrench in his hand, oh, my, he's looking at the faucet and, no, he is not drinking from it, he is going to fix it! Oh my GOODNESS, I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES! The leak has been fixed!!!!!! Band plays, cheers are said by one and all, WIFE gives him a big KISS!

How would our lives change if we lived every day just a little bit like that? I don't know, the results might surprise you. Try it. Let me know what happens. Also, anybody know where I can find a marching band for hire?