From The Jungle to the Bowl: Tri-State High School Football

I went out to Mater Dei’s football practice on Wednesday. It was great hearing the pads smack, and the whistle blowing again. I truly love high school football.

Way back in 1993, I was just a fledgling little sports fella. Then NEWS 25 sports director Marc Robbins would send me to games and places I had never been. I loved it. I have been hooked ever since.

In 1994, I worked at Channel 7. Mike Mallory was the sports director there. He would send me to Heritage Hill and Jasper, because no one else wanted to drive that far. It turned out, I LOVED going out there. The further out the better for me. There is no place like The Jungle. Patriot fans are passionate, knowledgeable, and loyal! How great it was to cover Jay Cutler when he was just a sophomore for the Pats.

In 1995, I was back at NEWS 25, and I made sure that we covered the heck out of teams like HH, Jasper, Southridge, South Spencer, Tecumseh, etc. etc. When I became sports director in 1998, I personally wanted to continue covering those teams. That’s the time period that we started doing our entire Home Team Friday show live on location. That was the best. Tons of kids yelling during my show, free pizza, shirts, hats, helicopter. The glory days for sure!

Then we expanded our show to an entire half hour. That meant that I had to stay back in the studio. I miss the days of heading out to the far stadiums. Now Randall gets that privilege.

I have since become really close with the Evansville schools. Cover Mater Dei during the Adam and Jake Schiff years were awesome. Those Reitz vs. MD games were off the charts with energy. There would be 12,000 fans at the best high school venue of the Reitz Bowl. The John Hart and Tony Lewis era at Reitz has been a blast too. So many great peeps on the Westside.

I cannot believe I am about to start covering my 17^th year of high school football in the Tri-State. I still get the same excited feelings as soon as I step out on to the field. It’s awesome being on the sidelines, seeing the coaches come up with schemes, players pumping each other up, being just a few feet from some amazing catch or big hit.

In the pros and even in college, football has become a big business with a lot of money on the line. High School football is still the purest form of sport. The raw emotion of players, coaches, and fans is unmatched. We are blessed to have such great players, stadiums, fans, and tradition here in the Tri-State. We don’t have a big-time college program, and of course we don’t have a pro team...so high school football is IT, and do we ever make the most of it!

As I walked across the practice field at Mater Dei, I had a short daydream of my 1-year old son Cal in uniform. I can’t even imagine how incredible that day will be.

The countdown is on to August 21^st!

Comments

[Jacob Newkirk]

I'm ready too! Let's get it on!!!