There was a huge announcement recently, as the Texas UIL put out a schedule for fall sports. Many cheered the announcement, and many did not. Some see it as football and money being put ahead of the safety of students and teachers, and others see it as a chance for a return to normal. I am convinced that either way, normal is a notion that is long gone.
There is no such thing as a “new normal” because with every day the landscape changes. To grasp what those changes mean to teachers and school administrators, you would have to be one. I don’t think there is any way for those of us who do not spend our days in a classroom to understand the challenges that now present themselves to those that do. There is on campus learning, virtual learning, and variations of the two. Teachers are being asked to come up with new ways to do their job, all the while being asked to do so without any conversation on paying them more for answering that call.
Right now, this very day, teachers are the most precious commodity our communities have. It is them that will rise to the challenges before them this year, and I have no doubt in my mind that they will.
Now, back to football.
Football, in Texas, is big business. Whether on the high school level, or college, football is born and bred into our hearts. We love sports in general, and we year after year spend our money on t-shirts, programs, advertising, uniforms and all of the other merch that is involved with sports. Not just football either. But, let’s face it, football is king.
Where else can you see half of a town decked out in their school colors, packed into a stadium on Tuesday nights, Thursday nights, and then again on Friday nights. There is a kinship that comes with it, there is a sense of community that lasts a lifetime. It is important.
Odds are, the stadiums won’t be as full this year. Social distancing and masks will whittle down the crowds, but thanks to another big UIL announcement, we can enjoy the broadcast of the games at home.
I have spent the better of the last week weighing the issue of whether we should be playing football this year, and here is what I think. You are welcome to disagree, and based on the calls and emails I have received on the subject, there will be many that do disagree, but I think we should be having our Friday night lights again, and here is why.
