i remember writing in my journal how the losers lingered a little longer on the field than the winners did that night back in '97. how i watched the lights go out on the field standing there on the astroturf in college station with lara, the quarterback crying beside us. just two away, i wrote. two away from state.
the hornets would go on to win the texas state championship in '00. i stood there on that freezing december night with matt and the family. i had driven seven hours to be there. the brutons had brought their gas powered space heater and the whole stadium seemed to be sharing the same blanket, huddling beneath it together only to throw it off every five minutes as we stood in a fury to cheer. in the final seconds taurean henderson ran the ball into the end zone and the whole arena erupted. one giant cheer of hometown boys and girls long since gone from the place they had once known, but home now coming together in one common victory to share in this great night when a small town seems bigger than the biggest city. taurean would go on to play for texas tech and then the vikings and the falcons; our very own home town legend who put little ole gatesville, tx in wikipedia. but i bet even he would say his greatest win was that night. there is just something about texas high school football. if you haven't lived it, you might not understand. it stays with you.
in my novel i am writing, justus loudbach's father, rw, the high school kicker turned preacher has a state championship ring in a case over his diploma in the church office. his brother wain has one too, proudly hanging in its case over his bed in the j crew room his mother has not touched since he left home to marry liz and become a lawyer and the father of perpertually crying twins. justus dreams about that night when it came down to the last kick. about how the whole world seemed to slow down. the home movie in his head flickers a bit but he can still hear johnson yelling "send our baby home through the uprights, j!" he can still see the ball clip the corner and fall. he can still see the lights go out. i guess despite that win after i was in college that loss in high school has still lingered a little longer with me.
this year the starting quarterback and the homecoming queen for gatesville are both two precious kids that i baby-sat once upon a time. little jake has stood on those side lines with the big boys watching his daddy coach the hornets since almost before he could walk. in fact my memory of this is inspiration for parts of my novel. and now its his turn. and mary, my little mary alice. homecoming queen for all of two days, but our little drama queen forever. i can still see those big blue eyes looking up at me with those big crocodile tears. i hope, for thier sakes, those will be the only kinds of tears those big blue eyes will ever see.
im old.
i was so young then. u never realize it until its too late.
if i could write mary and jake a letter, and maybe i will, i would tell them "stay there in those moments for as long as you can. soak up every ounce of gateville. the drive-in theater and the way audi smiles and nods when he hands you the ticket. main street, with the way it sneaks up on you and then its gone. the old courthouse square. the parade where the whole town comes out. little girls and boys pointing and smiling. mommy, daddy he's the quarterback, look mommy a queen! the hornet buzz on monday after a victory. the drum beat of the band warming up on friday morning. the pep rally on friday afternoon, oh feel it for everything its worth. never again in your life will you be so united with any other group of people. and those friday nights. listen for the old train that goes by in the distance when you play la vega. watch for the goats that graze just to the left of the field when you play china spring. be sure you make fun of the troy trojans. sing the words to oh christmas tree when the robinson rockets play their school song. go get kalaches when you play in west. catch a mini football that the cheerleaders throw after a touchdown. and never, never fail to join pinkies across the stadium and proudly sing your alma mater. do you know most people i have met in life don't even know their school song? sing it proud and be sure to sing it right, changing that last line from gateville, all hail, to gatesville, all hell.
i don't know why. i can't explain it and you won't be able to either, but you will never be able to forget them."
im friends with lara now on face book, but we never really talk. she has two little boys and lives in florida. im pretty sure our homecoming queen moved off to utah. our quarterback went of to a&m but never played. taurean broke his leg and got sent to play in a league in europe. cody and clay and gip and matt all got married. and guess what! the great class of '98 is turning 30 this year!
i left too. bound for the magnolia state with a broken heart trying hard to leave gatesville behind. its been almost two years since i crossed that state line and gosh, almost ten since i left for mc. its been too long since i saw the sky grow big before my eyes. my heart still smiles to think of it now.
time passes.
in the tv show friday night lights the first couple of episodes they would write at the bottom of screen, monday morning, 8 am, 5 days away. tuesday afternoon, 3 pm, 3 1/2 days away. and so on...those early writers of that show understood the dynamic of a small texas town. every week in early fall you get the chance to start over.
maybe thats what i am still waiting for...
Jake Truss hit 13 of 19 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns as the Hornets held off the Connally Cadets 44-34. Truss hit a 15-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and a 64-yard scoring pass in the second quarter. Truss also ran for touchdowns of 6 and 1 yards, and nailed a 23-yard field goal for the Hornets (4-1).
source-wacotrib.com
today i am listening to:
adele-19-hometown glory
bruce srpingstein-born in the usa-glory days
today i am reading:
my novel, maybe i'll work on it some!
Time does pass but when you let yourself, the smell of popcorn and the feel of the sweet, dry breeze blowing through the stadium come rushing back through all the years. The dazzle of the band and danceteam as they enter the stadium are right in the front of my mind's eye. I have memories of my MGHS football games, too. My dad huddled in his long wool overcoat in the frigid Ozark evening air. The warmth of the foil wrapped baked potatoes sold at the concession stand...a precious commodity to this clarinet player's fingers! Memories of community and unity under the banner of us against them. Somehow that weekly battle, replayed in fields across our land, has served to galvinize us all as members of team spirit and connects our collective memories.
ReplyDeleteI too remember the MGHS football games. I loved watching the twirlers in their short-skirted uniforms of maroon velvet with white fur trim and white marching boots with tassles. The band followed them onto the field, and my heart would pount in time with the bass drum. I was a football cheerleader with a secret: I didn't understand the game at all. The cheer "1st and 10 let's do it again" was a real puzzler for me - I could never figure out what that meant. My husband explained it to me 26 years later. Now I happily watch the MN Vikings play every Sunday and love those "1st and 10s". Let's do it again.
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