Holiday weekend Tupelo "blues"

By the time you read this, my sojourner of being “between jobs” has ended and I am once again gainfully employed.

The day after Labor Day, I returned to the fold, so to speak. I am once again in the newspapers business. I am the new law enforcement reporter for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The holiday weekend gave me one last breath of freedom before settling in to the daily grind of a job. (And after the last several months, I am looking forward to having some structure and routine in my life.) Kathy and I kicked off the weekend with a high school football game.

Over the past two decades, there is no telling how many high school games I have attended, but this one was different on a number of levels. It was only the third time since the early 1990s that I have paid for a ticket and sat in the stands to watch a game. It was also the first game Kathy and I watched together. When working, I was responsible for both the story and the pictures, so I trudged up and down the sideline, dodging the occasional player careening out of bounds and sometimes not completely dodging them.

As for the other part, Kathy is not into sports. But she is into her grandsons and the older one is on the Tupelo football team as a backup offensive lineman. I dropped by the school Friday and bought season tickets, committing us to at least the six home games.

Going to the game brought back a flood of memories – the hectic traffic as folks try to find the best and/or closest parking spot but soon settle for just any spot, the smell of hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, the sound of the bands warming up, familiar faces milling around in the crowd in anticipation and the blue turf. BLUE TURF? Wait, that part is new.

That part is definitely new.

After 10 years of discussion, the school district finally decided to switch from natural grass to artificial turf. It costs a lot but it has numerous benefits. It never needs mowing or painting or weeding. And it can shed water like a duck’s back. The drainage system under the turf is designed to channel away rain water keeping the surface playable even in a downpour. If they had turf in Gainesville last Saturday, the Gators would have been able to play as soon as the lightning stopped.

Instead of going with the traditional green, Tupelo wanted blue. Boise State University has a patent on their Smurf turf but Tupelo was granted special permission to install a blue field with gold end zones. A gold track will soon encircle the field. I was worried about how all that color would affect my eyes, especially when Tupelo took the field wearing blue pants and blue jerseys. But after the first couple of plays, I settled in and started to enjoy the game. I didn’t really notice the color of the field any more.

The game itself started slow. A series of circumstances kept the Tupelo offense off the field until the second quarter. Tied 7-7 at the half, Tupelo poured it on in the second half and quickly opened up a 35-7 lead. While one side of me would prefer to see a tight, competitive game, the other side is looking for blowouts. If Tupelo is winning (or losing) big, there is a better chance for the grandson to take the field.

Sitting in the stands, I started watching people as they wandered around the stadium. I recognized parents, teachers, business leaders and more than a few former players. One of those former players is Mayor Jason Shelton, who was ending his high school career as my newspaper career was just starting.

As the final outcome of the game became more and more clear, more and more people started to get up and leave. Midway through the fourth quarter, we could see the steady stream of headlights leaving the parking lot. By the time the game ended and we made it to the car, the bulk of the traffic was gone.

We only live a few miles away from the high school, so the drive home was quick. And there was a large, fluffy critter who was really excited to see us when we opened the door.