This was everybody’s favorite game of the year; when the cross-town rival, South High School would come and play North High School for what was called the Big Game. This night’s game also happened to coincide with the annual Pie Eating Contest. Because everyone in town was interested in the outcome of the game, many businesses and companies felt compelled to close down for the evening to support the teams.
Before the game, during the commute to the field, the coach on the North team told a cluster of his player that that night was a very special evening because it would commemorate the 50-year anniversary of when he had won the Big Game. As the coach ran a comb through his thinning black hair, he told his players, “I first want to commend all of you for working so hard this season. I know all of you are busy with your family, with studying, jobs, and sports. It’s just great to see so many young kids commit to something like this game and work so hard at it. And secondly, to win tonight’s game we need to have good teamwork! Don’t go out and try to do everything yourself, but be a cohesive group, all working together for the victory.”The coach had been in command of this team for the past 6 years. He had good assistant coaches who helped collaborate on the plays and planning for the team. All of the players on the team thought their coach was always full of compassion and fairness, but at the same time, many times he made the players work so hard that they would almost collapse from exhaustion.
To start the Big Game, on person from the school’s sport’s commission would flip a coin to see who got the ball first. Compared with other sports, like basketball and baseball, American football can be more dangerous. Sometimes, when a person clutched the ball and started running, the other players would try to collide with him and jump on him. Many times after being tackled like this, the person wouldn’t be able to speak a coherent sentence because of the pain. If the person running with the ball was clumsy or made a mistake, then he would lose the ball. To be good at this game, you have to be strong, fast, compact, and willing to get tackled. If you’re small and very thin, your body type probably isn’t compatible with the kind of abuse you’ll face.