Another excursion of high school football coverage

High school football will make its triumphant return throughout the state of
California this weekend.

If it seems earlier than the norm, it is. As for why, I have my theories from an
earlier writing:

http://vincedadamo.blogspot.com/2018/07/early-start-to-high-school-football.html

Here in the Napa Valley: American Canyon hosts Deer Valley (Antioch), Napa
visits Pitman (Turlock), Vintage travels to Wood (Vacaville) and Justin-Siena
visits Piedmont in Friday action. St. Helena opens its season on Saturday at
home against Arcata. Calistoga begins its season on Aug. 24 with a home game
against South Fork (Miranda). There are three coaches making their debuts: John
Montante (American Canyon), Tom Pettithome (Napa) and Jim Klaczak
(Calistoga).  

I enjoy high school football so much that I still cover it as a freelance writer over
three years after changing careers from sports reporter to route sales
representative (upscale way of saying truck driver). I did not plan cover games
after leaving the newspaper industry but Andy Wilcox, who is a former colleague
from the Napa Valley Register, reached out to me before the 2015 season and
asked if I would be interested in continuing to cover games. I told myself, “Well,
I would be going to games as a spectator anyhow, why not get something out of it.”
So, I agree to do it and I’m still doing it until further notice.

The money you make as a freelancer is pretty nominal, without going into
particulars, but I don’t do it for the money. I do it for enjoyment. When it comes to
hobbies, some guys work on cars and others hunt and fish. I never took to either
one but give me a high school football game and “all in” becomes my mentality.
By the way, just as an inside humor, Andy and I refer to covering football as
“runnin’ shine,” in reference to running moonshine on the Dukes of Hazzard.

There are many reasons I love being around high school football as either a
spectator or reporter. Since high school football is played mostly on Friday nights,
it is an event that stands alone in that there are generally no other sporting events
coinciding. It’s not like Monday-Thursday where you have multiple sports events
going at various locales. Occasionally on Fridays, there will be other sports events
taking place but for the most part, football flies solo. It has everyone’s attention
and lends itself to being both a social and athletic event in that you have people
attending even if they have only casual interest in the sport.

Though participation numbers in football have experienced a decline over the
past decade or so, high school football is the last bastion where you might see
an 150-pound quarterback will his team to victory. You see alums turn out and
yuck it up about the glory days.

There is also a certain sense of pureness in that while you see the passing game
and spread offenses more prominent in high school, you still see schemes that
you will not see on Saturday and Sunday. For example, you see different
misdirection offenses in high school because at that level, asking a 17-year old
linebacker to stay disciplined for 48 minutes is difficult. You’re not going to see
NFL or college teams run a Houston Split Back Veer or Wing T.

Depending on the location of the game, you can smell delicious food burning on
the grill from hamburgers, hot dogs, polish sausages, perhaps tri-tip, etc. The
food can often make the attendance of a high school football game even greater.
Those places serving reheated hot dogs and nachos, you might want to hit up a
local establishment for your pregame meal. The smoked steak sandwiches at St.
Helena High = melt in your mouth. Shoutout Darrell Quirici. I once covered a
game at Fort Bragg High, which is on the Mendocino Coast, and they served
clam chowder at the concession stands. I also once covered a game at Sonoma
High and they served turkey legs.

Though outsiders think of California for its beaches and metropolitan areas, I
have covered high school football in many Northern and Central California locales
where you might as well be in small town Mid-America.

I have covered football in every environment from inner cities to rural. Both have
elements where you want to clear out as soon as the game is over. My fondest
memories are my years coverage St. Helena and Calistoga, which are located in
the Northern part of Napa Valley, CA. In those years, I had many road trips to
outposts in Lake and Mendocino County. The road trips could be long in that
because of the windy roads, an hour and a half drive feels like three hours but I’ll
take that over sitting in traffic on Interstate 80 going toward Sacramento.

Some of the views I witnessed included but were not limited to the Pacific Ocean
at Mendocino High, cow pastures at Tomales and a cemetery that included a
heckler at Upper Lake. I mean this affectionately but trips to Upper Lake and
Tomales were like taking a step back in time.

I don’t know what stories I will see unfold in 2018 but like any season, I welcome
the anticipation.