Taking Names and Keeping Score
The heat is on - bear with us please
Charlie Anderson
Ready or not another high school football season gets underway for real this week. In the area some teams are kicking off the year on Thursday, August 30 while the vast majority both locally and across the state have their opener set for Friday, August 31. Most of the games played on this first week of AHSAA competition involve rivalry games that have no direct affect on a team's ultimate standings in regional play. In a lot of cases such as the Choctaw County - Southern Choctaw game, the Jackson - Leroy game, the John Essex - Marengo game and the Sweet Water - Thomasville game the battle between the two teams is that of rivals.

In those cases the outcome of the game determines who will have bragging rights for a year and will usually help to jump start the season for those who emerge victorious. Even the loser of a rival game like that walks away with some positives, because playing in highly contested games like those always seems to build character in a team and ultimately prepares them for the balance of the season which includes their competition within their region and a possible playoff appearance at the end of the season. In some respects you might say each team wins in a game like that despite the score.

That in no way means the game will be played with less intensity and focus however but to the contrary will probably be among the most fiercely contested be either team all season.

With the season getting started in late August the temperature always seems to be a concern and something officials watch very closely to avoid heat related injuries that might harm a player, coach or official not only in the short run but for the entire season. This year with the day time temperatures reaching triple digits in this area on almost every single day during the weeks immediately preceding this one, that concern is even more pronounced.

Players, despite how well hydrated their coaches and support personnel keep them, will be playing the games with a lot of intensity as stated causing them to use up a lot of the fluids and nutrients essential to the bodies normal function. As a precaution the game officials at each game have been given the responsibility to call mandatory heat time outs at the midway point of each quarter and to use their judgment as to calling any other time outs necessary to insure the safety of the players and anyone else involved in the game.

Those timeouts may correspond closely enough with timeouts called by the teams participating so that extra time outs may not be needed but it is the responsibility of the officials to insure that sufficient timeouts are called regardless of how or when each team chooses to use their timeouts. Naturally that might lead to more timeouts than normal in a game.

For some fans and supporters who already think sporting events take up too much time, having extra timeouts may be yet another reason to get frustrated at the time it takes to play the game.

To all of you who fall in that group who are overly concerned with the time it takes to play a football game or other athletic event let me just say please bear with us during this time of the year. The safety of those young people playing the games as well as the adults involved is much more important than your convenience or mine. If it is beyond you to exercise patience under these circumstances it might be best if you elected to stay at home and watch television or something. Of course then you will have to put up with all those timeouts for commercials won't you.

Until next week......be safe!

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