Football Fiend

There’s just something about the sound of two football helmets shattering the stillness of a normal Friday night.

I can honestly say, as a sports reporter, that the best thing that I do is walk the sidelines of a football game on Friday night.

You have no idea as a fan what it’s like when you’re that close to the action. Sure...you can hear the clattering sounds of warriors pounding against one another in the stands but it’s not the same thing.
When you’re, at times, five feet away from the action, it’s amazing. Trust me, I’ve been there. The sound of Garrison McDowell breaking through the offensive line in a Landrum game or the sound of Derrick Overholt knocking an opponent out of his shoes at Polk County game is truly amazing.

Then you add in the noise of you guys behind us on the sidelines and the opposing fans on the other side of the football field and you’ve got what I call “Friday night magic.”

My urges to find a good movie to go see are erased when the pigskin starts flying on Friday nights. Chick flicks with my wife and Friday night episodes of Ghost Whisperer can’t hold me back.

My destiny lies in the sidelines on Friday nights. My destiny is to write about the warriors that make Friday nights interesting. Without football, what are Friday nights really about?
Sure...I could go out and hang out with my friends. There is the aforementioned “Ghost Whisperer.” There is the opportunity to go catch a movie.

The problem is that none of that feeds my testosterone filled body. None of that pumps my veins with the adrenaline that most men so desperately need.

None of that is football.

Let me repeat.

None of that is football.

I know for a fact that I am not the only man out there that has been waiting for football since Vince Young walked off the field with a national championship in January.

I’m not the only man that has been waiting for football since Big Ben and the Steeler boys walked off the field with the Lombardi Trophy.

In fact, I have a friend named Chris who only watches the NFL Network. It’s the truth. He watches the channel anytime he is at home, much to the chagrin of his future wife.

Let me tell you about my football addiction.

I have been drafting Fantasy Football teams since last week. That’s right, I’m drafting fantasy teams in July.

It’s July and I’m debating whether or not I want to take Shaun Alexander or Larry Johnson with my first pick in the draft.

Now that’s a fan.

In fact, I now have eight Fantasy Football teams. The kicker is that they are all called the PhantasyPhins since I am a huge Miami Dolphin fan. That might get a littel confusing. For all you San Francisco fans out there, “Dan Marino is the greatest of all time!”

The truth is that I just want football. I want to see Polk County, Landrum, Clemson, or the Dolphins step out onto the field right now.

I can’t wait any longer.

I want football like women want the next Nicholas Sparks book to come out.

Pretty soon you’re going to see me on Trade Street with an empty bucket begging for a slant pattern.

It’ll go something like this.

“Please sir, give me a Josh Twitty touchdown in the corner of the endzone,” or “Please sir, give me a wicked sack from Zeke Rollins in the fourth quarter of any game.”

Here is the question though.

Can any of you hang with me in a fantasy football league? Wanna try?

If you’re interested in me setting up a Tryon Daily Bulletin football league, email me at jmillwood@tryondailybulletin.com and I’ll see what I can do.

Personally, I don’t think anyone out there can take me. Either way, I’ll update it every week in my column and you can post comments on my blog.

You just have to go to www.tryondailybulletin.com and you can click on my name under the blog listing on the left hand side of the page.

Let us all unite under the flag of football and feed our craving. After all, Polk County and Landrum’s seasons are just around the corner on August 18.