Friday, September 5, 2008

Friday Night Lights

Kevin really wanted to go to our hometown football game tonight. Both of us grew up in small schools that didn't have football teams, so it's never been that big of a deal. However, around here it's quite a big deal. It was an absolutely amazing evening, and the girls were excited, so I went along with the idea. I'm sort of a dork in the way that if we're going to to to a game, we're going to be dressed for the part. So, the girls were all decked out in their BA black and gold bows, I had on my colors, Kevin didn't fit in, but the rest of us looked the part. Broken Arrow was playing Union, a major rival that they play for the opening game every year, and haven't won in 21 years. Anyway, we were going to arrive fashionably late, but little did I know that was the plan for everyone else in town as well. I knew these games were huge, but seriously, there were lines of traffic forever, and once we got into the parking lot there were no spots available. I was trying my hardest to maintain a positive attitude and have a fun evening with the family. (I'm not exactly known for my patience, so this was challenging.) We drove around for an hour, finally parked along the road and then walked a mile to the stadium. When we got to the corner, I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the girls with the stadium in the background. Because if I accomplished nothing else tonight, I was going to get a picture of them all decked out ready to support our tigers. Well, that was another plan that was blown as I realized that I was carrying around this massive camera, but I had forgotten to put my memory card back in after downloading yesterday's photos. Just what I needed to perk up the evening. We proceeded to the ticket line where I saw a couple of my students which did cheer me up a little. I love seeing them outside of school, and the fact that they like me enough to want to say hello. When we finally paid for our tickets, I noticed the sign that said "Maybe Standing Room Only". Oh joy! We walked a mile, waited in line and now we get to watch the game standing. Still determined to enjoy the evening we walk in and stand around watching a little bit of the game. We were there for about two minutes before the girls started complaining about everything imaginable. It's too cold, I can't see, I'm hungry, I want to sit down, hold me, were just a few of the many words that came from those whiny little voices. They did enjoy the cheerleaders and band performance, and Londyn was very concerned as to why the players kept hitting each other and falling down. We watched one quarter and the half time show before deciding we couldn't take the standing and whining any longer. We quickly began our journey back to the car. I guess it wasn't as much fun as the girls thought it would be, I'm not sure what they were expecting, but apparently something different. I am proud to say though,that I never became angry or agitated and I was even able to enjoy a few minutes of the game. It's always fun to see everyone come together to support the hometown team. Even though it wasn't the perfect evening, I have to admit, I still had a little bit of fun. I heard on the radio later that Broken Arrow won, breaking the 21 year losing streak to Union! What a great accomplishment! (too bad we weren't there to see all that happened.) We'll definitely have go again sometime.

2 comments:

Melissa said...

Devin... I must say as a regular hometown football game attender that it will only get easier the older the girls get! We are able to turn our older 3 kids loose to run with their friends, and Ashlyn has come to enjoy parts of the game too (mainly the soft pretzels)!

Jessica said...

Devin...we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one...I'm a Union girl through and through. My brother actually coaches at Union...so we weren't happy campers!