There I was sitting is the car skimming through the radio dial when I landed on “Sound Off with Sinkoff” on WTMM. That’s when I heard the words that always make me change the station immediately: “Let’s talk high school football.”
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Don’t get me wrong, I love high school football. I played high school football. I go to high school football games. But gabbing about it on local sports radio? Give me a break. And the funny thing is I was actually waiting to pick my kid up from football practice.
OK, maybe this is a little harsh. Surely there are a couple of dozen people in the Capital Region who would like to hear Brian Sinkoff interview the coach from Ballston Spa or Shaker or wherever.
Or not. Even after living here for twenty five years it’s still surprising to see high school football highlights on the local news. Where I grew up we were excited when the score got printed in Newsday.
Football teaches the value of teamwork in the face of adversity. It’s not elitist, like basketball. At most local schools everyone gets on the team and they all play a valuable role —even if it’s just during practice. And it’s a better team sport than baseball which tends to highlight individual achievement. Football teaches you about making a plan and executing. And sometimes it teaches you about failure.
But high school football makes lousy talk radio.
Now that playoff time is here we won’t be talking high school football much longer. We’ll be talking high school basketball.
ZZZZZZZZZ. Warm car, HS football talk on the radio. I feel a nap coming on.
Be careful! I recently went to pick the kid up and fell asleep in the car with the lights on. My nap wasn’t long enough to be refreshing but it was just right to kill the battery.