McCallum High School Football Ticket - $6.00

A few months into my freshmen year of college, one of my high school friends sent around a wistful and homesick email asking if we all missed Fall in Oklahoma: the leaves falling from the trees, crisp wind in the hair, leaning against the old green fence at Friday night football games.
We responded the only way we knew how...by mocking him relentlessly for years for that wisp of lame-ass nostalgia he sent our way.

Many years later, I know exactly what the pathetic loser meant. When Fall rolls around and the air catches a chill, my thoughts are drawn back to those Friday night lights. Not that I ever played, or even really cared too terribly much about the game. Friday night games were, and I imagine, remain a social event: a meet and greet before the night's festivities began.

For various reasons, I no longer associate with teenagers, nor do I tend to base my drinking plans around whose parents are out of town. No one I know currently lives with their parents, making it largely irrelevant.

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers in person. Despite the loss, it was a great crowd and a good time, and yet, it underlined for me again the simple joys of high school football.

To my surprise, I was able to find a co-worker who shared my (definitely sad, potentially criminal) interest in checking out our local high school team. Both of us live in McCallum School District, home of the Knights. For about 1/30th the price of my Steelers ticket, we got great seats on the 40 yard line. As we settled in, a McCallum running back took the ball 60 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game.

After that short burst of inspired play, we were treated to a solid hour and a half of what our nostalgia-grimed memories tend to forget about high school football - extremely sloppy play, comically mismatched players, and the kind of mediocre athleticism usually reserved for the C-USA.

At halftime, we found the true joy of attending McCallum football games. House Park, the stadium McCallum shares with several other schools, is only about a block away from The Tavern, a top-notch watering hole (try the Mexican White Wings). With the blessing of the old guy who tears tickets, we snuck off (totally missing the Homecoming ceremony!) to get some drinks. Returning to the game later with a belly full of Jameson to keep me warm, I was able to appreciate the joys of those Friday nights long past. It probably helped that McCallum started kicking ass, leading to a blowout and a District Co-Championship (GO KNIGHTS!).

While I don't know if I'll make it to our boys' upcoming playoff game (against the hated Hendrickson something or others), the chance to recapture some small moment of a time gone by was definitely worth six dollars, maybe even seven.