Friday Night Lights

Fall is always sure to bring us one thing, the Friday Night Lights of high school football. I, like most socially accepted human beings in America, haven’t been to a high school football game since I graduated. Strangely, the city of Louisville does not follow this social norm and on that last Friday of September the highly coveted St. X vs. Trinity football game is held.

This isn’t just some high school football game were talking about here. This is a clash of the titans. The two powerhouses of the state of Kentucky duke it out with their fists of fury in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium for 4 quarters.

For those who don’t know, St. X and Trinity are the two main private, all male, Catholic schools in the city. The teams are always ranked very high for the state and often times very high in the national rankings. It just so happened, that for tonight’s game, I would be so fortunate to watch the number 1 nationally ranked high school football team play ball.

So we parked in the packed parking lot of Papa John’s Cardinal stadium only to find out that we were late. Late for the tailgating. I kid you not. People actually tailgate for a high school football game. And they do it big too. Rows and rows of grills, corn-hole and beer.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that two high school teams could fill a college football stadium, but they did. And they did it with style. In fact, I think there might have been more in attendance then some UofL football games that I’ve attended in my day.

Once we were in the stadium, the harsh reality finally sank in… I went to public school. Compared to all the sweater vests and button downs around me, I looked like the number 1 draft pick for the newest member of The Clash.

But this was it. This is what the indigenous people of Louisville live for. This rivalry is bigger then us. The atmosphere can not be described with simple words. This game must be what football in Texas is like.

During the game, the people around me told tales of games going back at least 20 some years.This was a big deal to them.  I guess you and I are not the social norm when it comes to high school football in Louisville. Maybe its because I didn’t grow up in Louisville. Maybe its because I didn’t go to either school. Maybe its because I played soccer. Who knows? What I do know is that my futile attempt of assimilating to the atmosphere with a green and yellow jacket made me cringe the entire time. (Please blame my roommate who is a St. X alumni). So please wake me from this high school dream that I left 5 years ago because September has ended.