Football in Texas …it seems that we all get so wrapped up in the winning and losing of the game and we don’t look at this sporting event for all it has to offer. So yes, football is just a game that is celebrated in Texas, but it provides our kiddos so much more than the very basics of learning how to play a game. Why are we so passionate about this sport???? What is it about this sport that makes us all so CRAZY? I think we are passionate about it because it is one thing that we have all participated in at one point in our life. We have all “been there”, whether it be as a player, band member, cheerleader, drill team member, or whatever the level or type of participation that draws us to the emotion associated with this sport. Football is the center of the community in the fall of the year. We have the opportunity to cheer for the purple and the gold! We know they can win, because we know the players and we know those who coach them. But we have to recall what the sport teaches us and why we want our kiddos to participate in football and all the elements that actually go into making game night possible. What brings out 700 hometown folks under the lights on a Friday night? It’s about the sacrifice and the raw emotion we have all experienced from winning or even losing and even the pain and suffering it took to make it to game night. It’s about competition…we are all competitive. But, it’s more about learning to rely on your fellow teammates to “have your back” and to know your team mate is as committed as you are. It’s about knowing that the coaches and sponsors who have invested so much of their time with you will love you whether you win or lose, mess up the notes of the song or miss that cheer stunt, all they ask is that you put forth your very, very best! It’s about perseverance and testing your limits and learning just how much you can stand. It’s about mom, dad, grandma and grandpa and the pride they feel when they see their player evade a tackle and run to the end zone. Or they see their child working on the sideline or in a halftime show. It’s about the band that supports the players, the cheerleaders, drill team and the trainers who have worked all week to ready the players and support the players on game night. It’s about the endless hours spent painting signs, marching in the sun or dragging water jugs to the sideline…why do they do it? Because they are showing what is the very best in all of us, they are innocent kiddos participating in an event they love. The satisfaction and pride they get from working hard and pushing themselves to the limit will last them a life time. Isn’t that true? Obviously, it has lasted we adults a life time and that is why we come out to the Graveyard to watch football. We can still feel the emotion that we felt as participants so long ago. The fun of winning, the tears of defeat and the pride we felt when our coaches, sponsors and parents patted us on the back at the end of the game!So yes, it is only football, but it is so much more too and involves so much more than just the execution of the X’s and O’s of the game. I’m the biggest sports nut of the school district, but we have to all remember, including me, why we want our kids to play sports and remember that it’s about the kids and what they get out of it; it’s not about us. Go ‘Dillos!Parents, let us know how we can help you the first day of school all the way until the last day of school!! Please check the website at www.san-saba.net for school information and follow us on facebook, too! If you have any question about this article or any other question about school happenings please contact me at 325/372-3771 or email me at lglaze@san-saba.net .