Friday Night Lights
Do you feel that cool breeze on your skin? Do you smell the crisp leaves in the air? The season of Friday Night Lights is upon us. And it’s not just about football. Oh, no. It’s an entire lifestyle.
If you’re jumping into a uniform and getting to run across a football field, you are a legend. However, there are many people who live vicariously through those who take to the field. There’s a camaraderie that’s seen within a team that may people search for their entire lives. After a fall rain in Texas, the boys are seen playing in the mud as the crowd cheers on. Mud is never a deterrent from playing the game. It just means that the boys are dirtier when it’s all over.
Friday Night Lights represents hopes and dreams. Some are hoping and dreaming of winning state and going on to get a scholarship. Others are hoping and dreaming that they’re son will eventually get drafted into the NFL. Others are simply hoping and dreaming of having even a pinch of that camaraderie.
There’s a feeling that you get deep inside of your soul as you see the lights turn on Friday nights. As crowds pack the stands and as players run into the locker rooms, there’s a sense of pride. An entire community in Minnesota or Texas will come together to cheer on the local team. The whole community celebrates a W and the whole community mourns a loss.
Who would have thought that something as simple as a pebble-grained leather ball would bring such joy to a community?
Smell That Fresh Cut Grass
It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is. As soon as you smell fresh cut grass, it takes you to a football field. You can hear the coaches yelling on the sidelines, you can hear the quarterback yelling plays, and you can hear the smashing of helmets on the field. It will bring a smile to your face without even understanding why.
Whether it’s ryegrass, bermudagrass, or Kentucky bluegrass, it needs to be mowed. Some high schools have more money than others, keeping it manicured and looking great seven days a week. Others will involve the coach going out there late Friday night with a mower that he loaded up into his truck to get the job done. And he doesn’t mind doing it. It’s a sense of pride. He’ll do what he has to so that Friday night lights will go on.
Cutting grass isn’t a menial chore. It’s a reminder that the sport and the feeling of community lives inside all of it. It’s why so many people invest serious money in mowers – push, ride-on, it doesn’t matter. You want a lawn that you can be proud of, but every time the lawn is mowed, it’s a reminder of what happens when the boys of fall take to the field.
Feedin’ the Boys of Fall
Small towns of Minnesota, Texas, and others that take pride in Friday night lights know the importance of feeding their teams. Those boys can eat, and they need to be fed before a game. Home games are easy, and it might even be the coach’s wife that puts together a barbecue for the crew. Away games are when the dedicated members of the community come out. They load up their smokers and their grills. They pack coolers filled with Gatorade. They’ll feed their boys of fall no matter what.
Good food means good plays. No one in a dedicated football community is going to let the bus go through a drive thru. No, those boys will be fed and be fed well.
There’s a sense of pride and ownership when you decide you’re going to feed the boys. You might reach into your deep freezer to pull out the game you shot last week or you might head down to find the best brisket that money can buy. You get a neighbor to break out the cast iron for some mac and cheese. Another neighbor makes their mama’s banana pudding.
And, once it’s all done, you put it out on the table and step back. Within minutes, the boys will be shoving rolls into their mouths as they walk down the line, loading their plates until they can’t heap any more on. They’ll mumble a “thank you, ma’am” and a “thank you, sir” as they pass. They might be savages, but they’re respectful savages.
Your Survival Kit for Friday Night Lights
It’s all fun and games, literally. You need to make sure you have what’s needed to get you through the season. Whether you’re committed to feeding the boys of fall or not, you have supplies that need a place for safekeeping.
A pole barn can be the ultimate storage. It’s not just a shed. It can be an entire building. It offers you the diversity you need throughout the fall months and beyond. It’s a place where you can store your ride-on mower, your smoker, and all of your tailgating supplies. Push come to shove, with a large enough pole barn, it can be a place to pack the boys in so you can feed them without making them stand out in the rain.
Communities stick together when the boys of fall take to the field under the Friday night lights. It might not happen all year long, but it does when football state championships are up for grabs. Simply mentioning the score of the game can get you in with the owner of the coffee shop or with the guys at the local diner.
How you participate in this excitement is up to you. And what you store in your pole barn allows you to have an emotional pull back to your favorite season. Simply mowing your grass or smoking a brisket can bring you back to the boys of fall.
At Sherman Pole Buildings, fall is our favorite time of year. However, we know that it’s not just a season. Friday night isn’t just a game. It’s a lifestyle. Allow us to introduce you to our custom pole barns so you can have the added space you need to live your life to the fullest.
