Football tells the coming of the season
The best time of year is heralded by two-a-days and whistles
The calendar has gone from late August to September, which means a few things. Schools have returned to session all around the United States. Summer is unofficially over for most, even though the temperature will continue at “summer” levels for a few more weeks, and the American sport of football is back in all forms.
Whether your chosen form of football resides on high school fields or college or professional stadiums, September means it’s game time. It’s time to evaluate your team’s chances of victory this season, time to hedge your bets and be openly optimistic even if you have no reason to be. It is time to plan for tailgates and evenings and afternoons spent with friends cheering for or against the teams on the field.
I love football. I spent my childhood watching football every Sunday. I have always favored the NFL over college football, but enjoy a good college matchup. I still don’t understand the legions of fans (mainly in the South) who never attended a school but root for them as if they played for the team, but I guess I don’t have to. It’s all part of the wonderfully irrational state of being a fan.
Football is also an excellent signal for the arrival of Fall, which is the best part for me. The games start when the weather is still quite warm, but you know that by the middle of the season, you will need a good coat and hat to be comfortable at the game. Hot coffee or chocolate will be a gameday requirement if you want to be happy (maybe with something extra added for fun).
I spent most of my formative years in New Hampshire, and even though I haven’t lived there in over 25 years, I still think that is why Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. Lord knows it’s not because I was ready to witness a devastatingly successful season from my favorite team, the New England Patriots. People less than 30 years old may not understand this, but my favorite team sucked for a very long time. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their success during the 2000s but truly appreciated it because it was unexpected. Growing up, I assumed I would never live to see a Patriots team win the Super Bowl; that was just how it was, until it wasn’t.
Fall also brings back great memories of college days on the University of New Hampshire’s beautiful campus, watching the leaves turn every rich color in the Crayola catalog. Fall is also my favorite season for sartorial reasons. I grew up admiring the preppy J.Crew, L.L. Bean, and Ralph Lauren styles. Nothing says fall like a great pair of jeans or corduroy pants with a flannel shirt or a roll-neck sweater—oh, and tweed, lots of tweed.
Since graduating college, I have lived long stretches in areas of the US that don’t experience a true Fall season; they just got from really hot to slightly less hot before a brief winter called February. But that never soured my excitement and love for the season.
Even if the weather didn’t change much, or there was no fall foliage to look at, there was always football. Football is the indomitable sign that Fall has arrived. With the college season already a few games old and the NFL having just kicked off the 2023 season, I am looking forward to Fall and football again.
Now that I live in the Nashville, TN area, I am in a city with a football spirit and pride for their Titans that is fun to watch and be a part of (I still root for the Patriots, but it is nice that one of the heroes of the early 2000’s Patriot teams, Mike Vrabel, is the Titans head coach).
This area of Tennessee has many seasons; thankfully, one is a legitimate Fall season, even if it is usually too short. Although the line between Fall and Winter often gets blurred, that’s okay. We still have Fall foliage to observe and photograph. With the spectacular roads around the state, I can often combine two of my passions as I attack the twisties in my Boxster while occasionally stopping to take in the sights and maybe shoot a nice landscape photo or two.
All this will be done while wearing a nice sweater, maybe a sport coat for extra style and layering. And don’t forget a cashmere knit hat to keep my head warm as I drive with the top down. As I said, I have been outside of New Hampshire for a long time, but the New England prep kid has never left my wardrobe.
Cheers to Fall and football! May your team do well, as long as they aren’t playing the Patriots.