Football is back

It was a beautiful day for football last Saturday. The Jamboree was back with six teams doing their best to get the kinks out and to see if the timing of the new plays works as well against new competition than it did against the second teamers. That is very important since the first game will be on Friday night.

A year ago we were all a bit frustrated with so many things being put on hold due to the C-19 pandemic. The 2021 senior class was left to wonder if the bad memories would outnumber the good ones and if the good ones would really be that memorable.

We certainly seem to be in a situation where we take two steps forward but get warned that those two steps may be taken away from us so you better watch out. When you see kids smiling on the sidelines during a football jamboree you get the feeling that it doesn’t get any better than this and when compared to August and September of 2020 Saturday was pretty awesome.

It was really great to see the kids playing without a mask. As part of one of the two chain crews we had fun talking with the line judge on our side of the field. There weren’t a lot of flags thrown unless it was very obvious and would have been detrimental to any player. So there were a few procedure penalties that weren’t called. The coaches could see the mistakes and talked to their players to make them aware of what they did.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done before kickoff Friday night but at least the coaches have a good idea what to work on to tweak the timing or who needs to be blocked on certain plays. This Bronco team has one senior. There is some speed and some talent but size is going to be an issue. Young kids will need to mature quickly and make a difference.

The game Friday night will coincide with the Wheat Land Fair and Ritzville Rodeo which were also put on hiatus last year. The Fair game used to be a really big deal when the fairgrounds were next to the football field. There were rides and a small rollercoaster was usually set up outside the boys’ locker room. It was fun listening to Coach Agee try to compete with the clackety-clack sound the steel ride made. But he certainly got his point across.

There was always a good crowd on hand since many fair goers would go to the game after taking some time going through the displays in the buildings or breaking away from a rousing game of bingo at the Ralston Grange tent in order to see the latest Bronco football team take the field.

There were some great games and the sounds of youngsters screaming while riding the Octopus could often be heard over the pep band. On Friday night you may be able to hear the voice of the rodeo announcer at different times during the game.

Whatever you are doing or wherever you are at take the time to enjoy the sounds and the people around you. We have lost a great deal in the past year and a half and we should never forget that. You may have heard someone say after a bad movie or a boring meeting that those are 2 hours that they’ll never get back. Well I guess you can honestly say that whatever time you locked yourself away is that amount of time in your life that you will never get back and that is a darn shame.

This is a big weekend with the fair and rodeo, football and the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce Parade that was also cancelled last year. It should be a fun time so don’t forget to be in downtown Ritzville Saturday morning.

It is a good sign that life is getting back to some sort of normal that we can enjoy life again. Football is back and I for one am super excited.