This one is for the bands

It’s no secret to anyone locally who follows high school football — I’m blessed to call South Lafourche High School football games on ESPN – Radio — an honor I’ve enjoyed now for 5 seasons.

A few weeks ago, I made the biggest blunder of my radio career, but if I had it to do over again, honestly, I’d probably end up doing the exact same thing.

See, I was at South Lafourche High School and the band was on the field doing their halftime show. We were on commercial, which meant that I had three minutes to collect my thoughts and get ready for the next segment of our broadcast.

But I got sucked in.

The Tarpons’ field show this year is amazing. There’s props, acting, saxophone solos, amazing music, a wonderful theme — it all. They’ve swept through the local shows as Grand Champions in recent weeks.

So I watched … and watched … then I watched some more.

I watched for 4 minutes and 37 seconds, to be exact. My commercial break was 3 minutes long. For more than a minute, our radio audience heard absolutely nothing — except me tapping on the desk to the tunes the bands played.

Oops. My bad.

I couldn’t help myself. The tunes were flowing, and I was feeling it. A buddy of mine jokingly said it was as interesting as I’ve ever been on-air. That’s debatable, but heck, at least he was listening.

My mishaps aside, this column is dedicated to our local bands, because we’re blessed with some of the best bands in the entire state of Louisiana.

That’s not just lip service. That’s not just me making a cushy statement to make good with our locals.

That’s a fact.

Last year, several of our local field shows competed in the state competition in Lafaytte and many earned high billing and honors.

On Friday nights, we see the field shows at halftime, but we also get to get an inside look at the creativity, spirit and zest of those young men and women.

They jam out!

High school football games are for sports nuts, sure. But music lovers can find joy in the games, as well, because all of our local high school bands put tunes out there that can just make you forget about your stresses and pass a good time.

But I also wanted to make sure that I took time to acknowledge the work and dedication that all of those young men and women put into their crafts.

I never understood that. I always thought those kids just sort of showed up on Friday nights, beat on some drums, blew into some wind instruments and called it a day.

Heck no! Was I ever wrong.

My nephew is in band this year as a freshman at South Lafourche, so I got a first-hand look at how it all works.

Those kids — all local kids — work hard.

They bust their tails to perfect their routines. They work hard to master those amazing songs we take for granted on Friday nights.

So know, it’s not often said in a football magazine, but we appreciate ‘ya — all of ‘ya.

Without those amazing tunes, Friday nights wouldn’t be the same.

So this one is for the band — a salute to you all.

We’re blessed with some amazing ones locally — keep on keeping on!