By By Chandler Myers
Cooler weather is upon us as fall has arrived and winter is just around the corner. With the colder weather showing up, it means that high school football is slowly ending, and basketball is about to begin.
One part of me is sad to see football end because I love not only Saturday and Sunday but Friday as well.
There is something about seeing high school football that gets me pumped up. Those kids are out there week in and week out putting everything they have into getting a victory for their school. They are playing with heart and that is what sports are all about.
Once they hit college if they might still play with that motivation of protecting their alma mater, but some players just do it so they can get one step closer to a paycheck. The sad thing is most of these players will never get the opportunity to grace a field on Sunday.
This is where players lose focus is the NFL. The game is no longer about fun, but making $15 million a year. Some players still play with that intensity and want to w in a championship, but most just go out there for themselves.
If there were more players who went out there to have fun and be good role models, there might be more kids willing to give 100 percent to there team.
But as I was saying one part of me is sad to see football closing shop over the next few weeks. The other part of me is ready to see basketball start because that is my favorite sport.
It will be fun to go out and watch so many different basketball teams.
There is so much to love about basketball. The smell of the gym floor, the sound of the buzzer and the hearing the ball when it swishes through the net.
College basketball is great and brings excitement every spring with March Madness during the NCAA Tournament. Who doesn’t love filling out a bracket and participating in an office pool? The favorite on my bracket is always the North Carolina, who are always powerhouses. They are my pick to win the 2009 national championship.
Then the NBA playoffs are always fun to watch, but not the same since Michael Jordan retired (the second time). This season, I think the Celtics post a repeat of their run to the NBA Finals and beat the Lakers in six games. Either way it will be an exciting season of basketball.
But as high school football ends, we can’t forget that the college football season is still in full swing and will only get better over the next few weeks as the bowl picture begins to shake itself into place.
Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123.