Football has been a part of my fall experiences almost all of my life. In elementary school I played little league football. But I was never as good as my dad who played in college and my brother who starred at Warwick.
In high school I was part of the band and we marched and played at all of Warwick's games for six years. That was fun. As a senior I also ran the concession stand at football games. I made all the purchases and planned for the staffing, without any school advisors helping. And we made out very well financially. It was a great lesson and experience in leadership and business practices for me. I also worked for the local newspaper and wrote two weekly columns, one of which was "Spotlight On Sports".
In college I worked for Susquehanna's public relations department and did all the statistical collection and reporting to the NCAA for both the football and basketball teams. Both teams did very well and this was a great experience for me as well as a way to reduce my college expenses. During those years James Garrett was head football coach and Susquehanna had exceptional teams. He was the father of the present head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. It was fun to travel with a winning team, especially when we flew to our games.
After graduation I was given the opportunity to return to writing for newspapers. The Lancaster Sunday News hired me to cover high school football games each Saturday. I did that for over 25 years. Again, it was fun and a good source of extra money when we were living on what was then a very small teaching salary.
Traditionally I have had three favorite teams during each football season - the three P's - Penn Manor, Penn State and Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortunately, seldom have all three teams won the same weekend.
When I came to Penn Manor in 1963 they did not have football even though they were one of the largest schools in the area. That was hard for me to work in a situation where football wasn't part of the program. A fellow teacher who had played at Hempfield felt the same as I did. We were both advisors to the Spirit Club and we decided to start a petition drive in the community and that is what actually eventually started football at Penn Manor.
Over the decades since then, the high school football teams have had a rocky journey. Only during three different periods have they had winning teams. In fact, my brother who coached at Warwick, created a "crying towel" that the losing brother was to receive each year at Christmas. It became a permanent possession of mine and eventually I just "retired" it.
One of their most successful runs came just a few years ago when they finally began to make it to districts. They had impressive teams during those years and were fun to watch once again. Then their excellent coach resigned to work on his doctorate. He continued teaching there but never returned to coaching there. However, a few years later he was offered the head coaching job at a neighboring private school. He took that job and has turned that team into a consistent winner. Meanwhile, Penn Manor has had trouble winning games. And from what I hear, that trend will continue this year.
My favorite team is Penn State. For many years we traveled to most home games - often securing our tickets on the road to Happy Valley. We posted our need for tickets on our car window and usually somebody would stop us and sell us tickets at face value.
But a few years ago they changed their handicapped parking area and with our growing physical problems it became more difficult for us to get to and from the stadium. So we have now chosen to stay at home and watch on television. It's more comfortable that way, but we do miss being there. I don't know how they will do this year. Once again, they are young, especially on offense, although they've had two excellent recruiting classes. I would predict a 7-5 season but hope it might be better.
Finally, I continue to follow the Eagles. They've had a good run lately and could have another good season unless their quarterback gets hurt once again. Then it could be a rough year. Time will tell. But they've been fun to watch.
So here we are once again - the start of a new football season. The good news is that all three of my teams start once again with a clean slate. The bad news is that these next few months will pass too quickly. Then comes the snow and ice. Ugh!
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