With a trumpet fanfare, Lawrence County’s high school football season began this week.

Monday, August 30, 1999

With a trumpet fanfare, Lawrence County’s high school football season began this week. And, while all the results might not have been what county fans hoped for, there is no question that this will be an exiciting year to be rooting for all the teams.

Lawrence County has some of the best high school football fans in the country. There are teams all over the state who are lucky to draw more than a few hundred people to their games. Most schools in this area have to plan for a whole lot more than that – and sometimes there is standing room only in their stadiums.

But as in every athletic situation there are also some less than responsible fans. You have seen them. They are the ones bellowing insults to the other team and launching projectiles from their seats onto the field. They are rude always and out of control often. And, they are dangerous.

As another football season begins, it would behoove everyone who attends a game – a high school football fan, or anyone who pledges allegiance to a team – to remember that teenagers and children are watching.

Adults who act like idiots at football games – sometimes violently or with no regard for the people on either side of the field, let alone those who are sitting around them – are not only an annoyance, they are horrible examples of the sportsmanship we want to teach our children.

No matter how much fun it is to win – and no matter how hard it is to lose – high school football is really just a bunch of teenagers playing a game.

They deserve credit for even being on the field. They shouldn’t be ridiculed – even if they are from another school.

Teaching our youngsters how to enjoy sports and how to be gracious losers and winners is one of the best lessons we can give them – even better than a great jumpshot.