Documenting my travels and thoughts from around the country
2020 Week 5 (Pennsylvania & Ohio)
This weekend started with a lot of options. In Pennsylvania, there was only one Thursday night game on the west side of the state. Meanwhile, Ohio had a sizeable number of Thursday options. This due mostly to Rosh Hashanah, moving several games from Friday to Thursday to avoid conflicting with the holiday. Continue reading “2020 Week 5 (Pennsylvania & Ohio)”
2020 Week 4 (Ohio & Pennsylvania)
Week 4 was back home in Northeastern Ohio. And had four football games to go with it. Even prior to Covid-19, District 10 in Pennsylvania had noted that Thursday and Saturday games were going to be a reality in 2020. An aging pool of officials made the move inevitable. However, Covid-19 had added fuel to the official shortage fire. Continue reading “2020 Week 4 (Ohio & Pennsylvania)”
2020 Week 3 (Montana & North Dakota)
Week 3 was an interesting week. Memorable for the places I did get to go. And a bit surprising that it went exactly as planned in advance. No changes. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. I returned to western North Dakota this week after a few days in Texas and planned to enter Big Sky Country for a rare Thursday game the furthest northeast reaches of the state, and a Friday night contest along the Hi-Line. Continue reading “2020 Week 3 (Montana & North Dakota)”
2020 Week 2 (Texas)
I knew I would be in Texas this weekend. For a few weeks, I had planned to be in Texas this weekend. West Texas. For the Jayton Kickoff Classic. A three-day event of six-man football in the small outpost of Jayton. However, that event was cancelled and the originally scheduled games were cast off to the various home sites of their participants. So, no longer was I going to see two games Thursday, one Friday (after an initial cancellation), and five on Saturday. Instead, it would be one and one. And maybe Saturday if somehow at all possible. Continue reading “2020 Week 2 (Texas)”
2020 Week 1 (North Dakota)
With everything going on in the world, my Week 0 plans had gone off a bit smoother than I anticipated. After two games in Utah in Week 0, my plans for week 1 were wide open.
Originally, I was going to take in my first ever Corky Kell Classic in Georgia. An event spanning four days, it would have included 11 games. Three doubleheaders at various high school venues in Greater Atlanta and five games on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. A stadium I had planned to see games at last year, but the GHSA finals were moved to Georgia State Stadium.
With Covid-19 reaking havoc in the Peach State, and with Kentucky getting pushed back a week, I looked around and saw that, close to Utah, were two states that would start football. North Dakota and South Dakota. Continue reading “2020 Week 1 (North Dakota)”
2020 Week 0 (Utah)
2020 has not been a great year. Which would be an understatement. Since 2012 or so, I’ve had my season plotted out from beginning to end and though it may be more of a ‘guide’ than a rigid itinerary, I would tend to keep up with my plans. Weather, rescheduling, and sometimes overlooked games may change things. Continue reading “2020 Week 0 (Utah)”
2019 Week 18 (Texas)
After the games in Georgia. There was only one destination remaining: Texas. This was the 9th straight year I’ve traveled to Texas for the state finals. Tenth overall. I was going to say it’s where I’ve ended my year for the 9th straight time… however in 2014 I did see the Geico State Champions Bowl Series games at Boca Raton one time. Continue reading “2019 Week 18 (Texas)”
2019 Week 17 (Georgia)
So, with Pennsylvania starting their season a week earlier than usual, meant another week off between the PA finals and the Texas finals. And once again, I went looking for something to fill the void.
Last year, I drove down to North Carolina for three games before heading to Texas. North Carolina had three venues hosting their eight total games. Georgia, this year, had eight state titles at one location. Continue reading “2019 Week 17 (Georgia)”
2019 Week 16 (Pennsylvania)
The Pennsylvania State Championships are a fun, albeit slightly subdued affair. Unlike other states still playing this late, lack of warm weather hinders the crowds, and some of Pennsylvania’s crowds are paltry. Only 950 attended the Thursday afternoon game between 1A powers Farrell (one of the smallest public schools in the state) and Bishop Guilfoyle, a private school also from the west side of the state. Continue reading “2019 Week 16 (Pennsylvania)”
2019 Week 13 (Iowa)
This week was my fourth trip to Iowa for either the state finals or semifinals. All semifinal and final round games are played at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls at the University of Northern Iowa. It’s a great venue for a game. And hosting all twelve semifinals is a great weekend of football. Continue reading “2019 Week 13 (Iowa)”