Oh, you guys are gonna love this … a commentary on high school football … by me.

High school football is a very big deal locally. Heck, the entire state seems to takes its high school football seriously. The fields are big, the stands are big, the lights are bright and there are usually two concession stands going. You pay to park, you pay for tickets to get in and you pay for programs. The level of intensity surrounding the performance of the not-much-more-than boys surprises me. Few will make notable college level success and fewer will hit the pros. You’d think the sun rises and sets over these Friday night performances. But scholarships are indeed made on the grid allowing those lucky ones to move to colleges (where tickets cost much more) and fewer to pros (where tickets are unaffordable).

I sort of keep waiting for soccer to catch up and take over, but it hasn’t yet. There is no special insert in our local newspapers giving bios and stats of any soccer team (or track or swimming or any other sport for that matter). As far as our local newspapers go, until Lawyer Joe Quinn takes out a full page ad on the back of something, it’s not validated.

For all my years living here, football has had a place in my life: Early on, it meant Wilkes College (yes, “college”). My dad used to announce at all the Wilkes College football home games. Sometimes, he would take me with him and I have two distinct memories. The first is pretending I was one of the very cool cheerleaders and the second is eating delicious hotdogs. They were hot and the buns were warm and soft. Yum. During my teen years, football meant baton-twirling. I was a majorette. I thought about being a cheerleader, but opted for an extra-curricular that actually required talent (mee-ow!). We marched on the football field with the band and I tossed my batons as high in the air as I could and caught them (mostly). Today, football still means band. My son is a drummer and I am a band parent. On the lapel of another band parent’s jacket, I spied a pin that read: “What are those football players doing on our field?” Great, isn’t it? From these observations, you can tell that absolutely nothing qualifies me to write about football. Nevertheless â€Â¦

I was looking at the WVC insert (that’s Wyoming Valley Conference, I’ll have you know) in The Times Leader newspaper on 8/30/07. I thought I’d read up and learn a little. I got to the table of contents and blah, blah, blah. Let’s get to the rosters and whose kid do I know. That was a little fun. But it wasn’t long before I was bored and reduced to looking at the pictures. Like a child, I am. So, I decided I would have me some football fun and pick out the best team photo. The runner up is Wyoming Area (above); there are only eight players in the photo. I don’t know why. The caption said that Wyoming Area “will count heavily on” these boys, but I’m not reading the article to find out if they’re seniors or what, but they’re well-positioned. My esteemed award for the best of the best team photos: Pittston Patriots (below). Just look at these boys. How cute are they??? Love it.

Wyoming Seminary caught my eye, but not because of their photo. Did you know they have a team? They have 30 players! They don’t play any teams I’ve heard of, but, hey, even the smart boys got it goin’ on! Holy Redeemer is another team that got me thinking. You know, with the merger and all. They’re not Cougars or Trojans or Mohawks, but Royals. I’m sure they meant well, but, when I hear “royal”, I’m thinking The Queen, Prince Charles, etc. Better than Argents, I guess. (What is an Argent anyway? A silver something?)

Seriously, folks, for the Double A: Wyoming Area’s the hands-down pick. They have a deep and talented back field. Watch those Hawkeyes, though, they only lost three starters from 2006 all those boys come back for more in ‘07. Triple A Berwick’s 4-6 ‘06 season won’t happen again for sure, so look out Crestwood and Dallas. Coach Campbell’s got a feel for his team now. Quarterback Gordon Law has speed and smarts. He’s great on the pre-snap reads, option reads and reads like a charm on the fly. With a great name like “Gordon Law”, the kid’s gotta make it big. The Quad A Spartans will rule again, Curry will see to that.

I sure sound like I know something, don’t I? Well, I’ll have you know I saw every one of our high school’s games last year and the year before AND I’ll be there for all the games this year â€Â¦ watching the band!