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Tigers fall short in season football opener, a game certainly to be remembered
And during difficult times, when the mere playing of the game is hindered by forces beyond the control of its participants, the proposition that athletes desire to participate in the field or the court matters.
Rice, had he still been around Thursday night in Tiger Stadium, would certainly have put his mighty pen to paper, delivering an athletic narrative chronicling the heroic efforts of a pair of high school football teams simply attempting to bring a bit of harmony to a difficult year.
They didn’t have to play the game. In its second wave, the pandemic decimated high school athletics and sent students everywhere to the confines of their homes where teachers Zoomed English, math, and history lessons along with a smattering of praise for their homebound students.
Many schools canceled high school events, including athletics. Volleyball and basketball, sandwiched between the fall and spring seasons, never made it to the courts. Other sporting events fell by the wayside as well, as the Pandemic wretched its way through our country – and the world.
And it was Lemoore’s Tigers, a young and eager squad – under the guidance of a former Tiger Rich Tuman, who many years before had once blessed the Tiger Stadium turf – that showed up Thursday night in historic Tiger Stadium for the first of three “Pandemic” football games – an unusual season and one certainly to be remembered for as long as young men from Lemoore continue to play the game.
They will say, “Remember that year we played three varsity football games in April?”
How could one forget?
The Coronavirus has taken its toll, but the simple idea that young men and women, during these difficult times, are making an effort to don facemasks, throw wishful touchdown passes, swim laps, and swing baseball bats, certainly teach society and the world an important lesson: We refuse to bow to the demons that threaten our lives, our jobs, and our spirit.
Despite the Coronavirus, we will stay safe, and we will remain practical, but we refuse to give in.
On Thursday night, in historic Tiger Stadium, Lemoore played the first of three “spring” games. Its first opponent was a powerful San Joaquin Memorial squad that had battled Lemoore many times in past decades.
The fans showed up, but not as many, limited to Pandemic rules governing the number of participants at a sporting contest. However, the south end of the parking lot was full of vehicles as approximately 200 fans (mostly family members and wayward sportswriters) graced the hallowed Tiger bleachers. A rough count revealed about 125 Memorial that showed up Thursday night for the April 1 contest.
A Tiger squad, historically blessed with athletic talent – remember Tommie Smith, Dale Messer, Larry Jones, Lorenzo Neal, Tommy, and Charlie Jones, and others whose names echo throughout the high school’s hallways and athletic fields – did their best, but in the end, the Tigers fell short to a talented Memorial High 40-7.
The final score? Does it really matter? Sure, athletes always want to win. However, there aren’t any playoffs planned, and Lemoore has scheduled just three games. This unusual season, the only game that really matters really, is the spring season’s final football matchup, scheduled for Friday, April 16, in Tiger Stadium, where Hanford and Lemoore will fight it out for the best team in Kings County, the winner earning the coveted “Milk Can.”
