From Football Manager to Spectator: A New Perspective

From the Fans View

All four years of high school I worked behind the scenes on and off the football field. From handing out jerseys and pants, measuring boys constantly for belts, adjusting helmets, patching minor cuts, along with trying to keep our ever so famous title we created as “H20 Technicians” by meeting all of the teams hydrating needs. So, from this angle I saw and heard everything. Even the things boys would not typically share with girls. That is one of the many “perks” of being one of four football managers. When I graduated high school and came back to Putnam County for my first Cougar football game since last season, I realized I had never actually watched a football game. Therefore, I decided to watch the game from a fans point of view. A much more muted version of the game. Watching the game as fan was like holding season tickets with sideline seats for the last four years and on the fifth year watching all the games on a dingy old black and white TV.

As the marching band started pathetically playing our school song, I hear the synchronized clicks of the cleats on the still warm from the heat of the day, asphalt. The team

Though the hug is unbearably wet and quite difficult to choke down, each mother accepts the affection gladly from her boys. A few stars of the night may get stopped by someone from the Banner Graphic newspaper to get a few statements from the boys to include in the Saturday edition of the paper. Once they all come out you see the tired in their eyes and the soreness creeping up even though they have already visited our Athletic Trainer, Shannon, and have been taped down with bags of ice on hips, swollen ankles, and bruised collar bones. The game is over, and they are thankful. You can see this much in their eyes, regardless of the outcome, they are ready to go