I had the great fortune to play football for 10 years of my life and have been watching football for about 30 years of life religiously. I would never trade playing the sport no matter what even if it meant I would be guaranteed to be great and successful at anything else, as football has provided me so much in terms of life lessons. So I think I've seen it all until last Friday when I had the opportunity to be the color analyst for the Bossier Bearcats versus Northwood Falcons game at Bossier Memorial Stadium. Amidst a driving rainstorm, myself, play-by-play guy the Kissing Bandit(pictured above) and our stats boy Cupcake, manned the fort up in the palatial Bossier press-box. And from all my football experience, I was truly humbled. Putting your thoughts together in such a short instant really takes repetition and experience, which I had neither. However once the game rolled on I too became part of the experience. The Saints radio broadcast of Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajun are my favorite, not only because I'm a Saints fan but they are entertaining, informative and very real. Speaking of the color analyst part, Hokie really knows how to put a personal spin on everything. And just when you think he's a Cajun hillbilly, try doing it yourself, as you have to know the game to be able to quickly analyze what's going on immediately after the play. Hat's off to those guys.
As for my experience, it brought back a flood of memories regarding Friday nights. Even though the crowd was extremely sparse due to the downpour, the players were just as giddy as if they were playing in front of a crowd of 50,000. Northwood High school is a senior laden team with a ton of experience depth and size. Bossier High school is rebuilding with a slew of underclassmen, having several notable players going both ways. Northwood had their way with Bossier early and often, racking up 40+ points in the first half alone. What struck me was how Bossier was going to handle it. Memories of my 1991 Loyola team instantly flooded my head. That year, I was a senior and our ballclub was undefeated & ranked for the first time in a decade. Haynesville rolled into town and we knew they were superior, however we thought we were pretty good too. After two quarters, we realized we had a long way to go as they were drubbing us 35 to nothing! Two of our players had to get carted off on stretchers. So were we going to come back in the second half with our tail between our legs or come out swinging? A last second touchdown by Haynesville in the second-quarter really pissed me and a bunch of my senior buddies off. They were up big time but yet relished in proving a point they could whoop up on some city Loyola City Slickers.
Fast forward to the second half. Led by first time starting quarterback Billy Thomas, we held the mighty Tors to seven points in the second half and we actually scored a touchdown. Looking back at the box score, one would consider this a blowout, but to our guys we knew we played our butts off in the second half and refused to quit. Many years later, I was working out at the YMCA and ran into a Haynesville O-lineman from that squad. He said we fought harder than any team they played that year, as in 1991 was one of many championship seasons the Tors had. It made me feel so good as they kicked everybody's ass, yet years later I still felt like we accomplish something.
Now the second half did not turn out so pleasant for Bossier that evening, but my memories were in full force of my game 22 years ago. While I was covering my first game from the booth I was still living in those player shoes thinking about how it felt when I was on the other end of the stick. All I know is football is a great sport, and it teaches you more about life than any individual sport could. It's not just about winning or losing. It is really about how you persevere during those times whether theyre great or whether you're getting your tail kicked in. The end result is if you work your butt off it will make you a better person in the long run. No class, money or luck will really teach you those lessons. It WILL be taught on the football field. Damn I love this game. Ed Hardy OUT!!!
