Opening night is perfect time to renew hope in the future

Finally, it's here.

No, no! Not my retirement.

That doesn't come until December.

I'm talking about the opening of another high school football season.

Sound the trumpet, the 76 trombones! Strike up the band!

Yes, I know there's this major-league baseball season going on that promises to have an exciting finish for Chicago fans.

Yes, I know the Bears get started officially in a week, but do I really care about the Bears, Cubs or White Sox on this final Friday of August?

I don't care. My entire focus is on the kids and their coaches and the strangely wonderful game of high school football.

I'm not too old to still get enthusiastic about another high school season. Don't you always feel that extra touch of excitement for that first football weekend?

I watched my first high school football game as a 10-year-old in 1946 and haven't lost the passion in 62 years. I don't plan to lose that passion even when I retire.

As long as I'm not six feet under, I plan to be around here for the opening of every high school football season.

Maybe I'll need a walker someday or be confined to a wheelchair, but I will be there on opening night. Some way. That's a guarantee.

What is it that grabs me? What keeps bringing me back?

It's worth repeating every year at this time.

I like everything about the opening game of a new season.

I like the morning of the game. I just seem to feel better, more refreshed, in anticipation of the first kickoff.

We all have a chance to do better. We're all going to have a better year. We have to think that way. It's more of a starting point for me than New Year's Day.

Normally I get upset at fighting crowds and rude drivers, but I will love to see the streets around the high schools when people are everywhere, almost a swirl of motion. They are hustling, moving along quickly, eager to get inside the gate and to their seats.

Some young, some old, all somehow smiling.

I always have a bounce in my step when I walk into a high school stadium and hear fans cheering and stomping.

First, I like to test the pizza or hot dogs and, of course, the popcorn.

I like gaily uniformed cheering sections that make the football stands sparkle.

I like the routines of the cheerleaders and pompon squads. The life of the high school game is found not only on the field but in the peripheral activities.

I like seeing old friends again, administrators, coaches, parents, anyone who shares my passion for the high school community.

I like the stirring sounds of the bands and appreciate all the hard work that goes into each performance. Those young people are Friday and Saturday heroes just as much as the classmate who recovers a fumble or scores a touchdown.

I like watching a team bolt from the locker room on opening night, unbeaten for the year, heads and hopes high, an entire season ahead with playoff dreams.

Everybody is equal tonight, at least until the opening kickoff.

I still like walking the sidelines despite the addition of some fancy new press boxes. I like to be up close and personal to hear the air sing with the great crashing of helmets and pads.

I like the breathtaking instant when a back or receiver breaks free of the last man in the defensive secondary and bursts into the end zone.

I like to stand on a field of green and white, a fall land of Oz, a place for young people to dream and old people to reminisce.

Each year a million American teenagers play football for their high schools. Behind the millions is a legion of older men who are ex-high school players and can proudly carry that special feeling the rest of their lives.

How many athletes have never known a greater moment than when they played for their high school?

I like the game they play, the mock combat. Football really is life marked in 100-yard segments, such a perfect test of young men.

Pure and simple.

I have said it many times before. High school football still retains the freshness its college and professional counterparts have lost and creates its own unique atmosphere.

For the players, it's still a game, and perhaps that's why it continues to flourish.

Let the show begin. I'm excited. You should be, too.

Curtain up, light the lights!

bfrisk@dailyherald.com