Football
Drove to Houston yesterday with an old friend to watch our college team play football. They lost. They could have won, and probably should have, but as seasons go wins are outnumbering losses by a good number and this has to count as a positive. Unfortunately, we seem to be in an age that demands perfection and we expect money to buy us happiness and victories. So, if we finish 8-4 or 9-3 next week, both good, there still will be a fair number of folks who will count the season a near failure.
As for me, I don’t know what to say anymore. It’s always fun to win, but mostly, over the years, what I enjoyed most was the time with my friends, soaking up the atmosphere, and celebrating us. But, where once our group of game-attending friends numbered eleven, five have passed on, and the rest are scattered to the winds. Yesterday we were two. Football, or any sport for that matter, seems less important these days. The best part of the day for me yesterday was our walk around the old campus, trying to remember how it looked fifty years ago. A lot has changed, mostly for the better, I’m sure.
Of course, I’m glad I went yesterday, the team was in the game until the end and the band was terrific as always, and I suspect we’ll do more next year. We might not buy season tickets, but they have small packages of three or four games, and that might be just right for two old guys who can still drive eight hours, there and back, to watch their college team play football. We’re slow and steady, we’ve been on longer road trips, together and with our late wives, and we’re happy to let other folks go around us. I guess we’re in the tortoise phase of our lives if there is such a thing.