Imrem: High school players indeed boys of fall
Please say hello to Kenny Chesney, today's celebrity co-columnist.
The country music superstar's "The Boys of Fall" came blasting out of the radio Saturday morning.
"When I feel the chill, smell that fresh cut grass … I'm back in my helmet, cleats and shoulder pads … Standin' in the huddle listenin' to the call … Fans goin' crazy for the boys of fall."
Sure sounded to me like high school football.
The lyrics echoed all day and ultimately inspired my rear end to get off the recliner and drive to a state semifinal game in the neighborhood.
How often do you get to see the "No. 1" anything anywhere anyway? Especially fewer than 10 minutes from home? For a measly $6?
Loyola Academy, top-ranked in the Chicago area, was playing at Palatine High, right down Palatine Road and up Rohlwing Road.
"Well, it's turn and face the stars and stripes … It's fightin' back them butterflies … It's 'call it in the air,' all right, yes sir we want the ball."
Amid all the college and pro games, sometimes it's easy to forget that high school football players are the true boys of fall.
Loyola and Palatine - along with all the other teams playing that day for a berth in this weekend's state finals - experienced the essence of November football in the Midwest.
None of those short-sleeved fans in South Florida or palm trees flapping in the breeze in Southern California.
Kickoff was delayed from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. to clear the field of snow. The cellphone lied that it was 28 degrees when the "real feel" was down to single figures.
The wind blew and the chill bit, yet bundled fans of both teams braved the elements to cheer for their schools.
"In little towns like mine that's all they got … Newspaper clippings fill the coffee shops … The old men will always think they know it all … Young girls will dream of the boys of fall."
Despite football's downsides, America still has a soft spot for the many prep games that I used to cover from Labor Day to Thanksgiving.
High school football isn't about pseudo college students trying to make it from campus to the NFL or grown men trying to make it from the NFL to the Forbes' list of billionaires.
These are still kids trying to earn college scholarships, a select few of whom will and a vast majority of whom won't.
You watch the Loyola-Palatine elimination game and wonder whether the seniors on the losing team realize that this day will be the last time most of them play organized football.
Look at the rosters sheet and you see a 5-foot-9 senior linebacker and a 145-pound sophomore tight end and a 5-7, 128-pound junior defensive back.
Yet every player who played looked like he was 10 feet tall and 800 pounds.
A terrific game it turned out to be under difficult conditions: Loyola 24, Palatine 22, only winners, no losers.
The Ramblers moved on to the state title game, and the Pirates moved on to next season or the rest of their lives.
At class reunions years from now, the memories will be of gametime temperatures below zero, wind gusts up to 100 mph and stakes as high as a Super Bowl.
Now let's hear a final round of applause for Mr. Kenny Chesney as he wraps up this column for us.
"They didn't let just anybody in that club … Took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood … To get to wear those gameday jerseys down the hall … The kings of the school, man, we're the boys of fall."
mimrem@dailyherald.com