There’s a palm reader four houses up the street, so when it comes to looking ahead, I have a neighborhood expert.
I moved in years ago, when she had a banner promoting $5 special readings. I thought, hmmm, I’ll have to do that, and if it’s good, take the afternoon off and head to the casino. If not, my lunch money (it WAS enough years ago) was gone and I’d just head back to the office.
Didn’t get around to doing it in my first week in the new casa. She hiked the special reading rate to $15 the next week. Since, I’ve relied on fortune cookies.
My pulse quickened Tuesday evening after I polished off a drive-through order of Chef Fried Rice, served with two cookies, providing a sweet crunch and maybe happy foreshadowing, or at least, some profound message that was worth a few more looks before getting pitched.
I had that going for me, which was nice. That wasn’t all.
Most of us are excited about the full blast of football arriving, beginning tonight with the NFL showcase of Dak Prescott leading the Jerry Jones Reality Show cast against the Super Bowl champion and arch-rival Philadelphia Eagles, who were Taylor Swift’s favorite team until recently (obligatory quarterly Tay Swift mention; beg your pardon).
There’s two high school games of local interest this evening, a couple hours east in Funroe, and the LHSAA regular season erupts Friday night all around us.
Don’t for a moment limit your focus to four 12-minute quarters. High school ball offers such a fantastic range of concession stand options, and at some point this year I will visit the semi-restaurant at Calvary’s Jerry Barker Stadium. Hopefully it will be during a district game, which aren’t usually close, and I can linger and try stuff that won’t remotely remind me of the not-totally-terrible-at-all Frito pies, hot dogs and cotton candy that I grew up on at Caldwell-Peacock Stadium before I played for the Jonesboro-Hodge Tigers.
Take in the halftime show. Hopefully you’ll see bands wearing band uniforms. Marching, even. Maybe not precisely, but with great joy. Those band kids (and their parents) put in WORK. Cap tip. Reasonable projection: those concession stands will probably be staffed by some of those band parents. Remember they do NOT get to take a break to watch their youngsters perform in pregame or halftime. Say “thank you” when they serve you, however long it takes.
Check out the cheerleaders, and dance lines, and pom-pom (or is it pon?) squads. Their early-season execution may be sharper than some of the plays between the sidelines. No matter what the scoreboard says, those girls (and maybe a few boys; it is 2025) will be energetic, enthusiastic and breaking out some new chants and moves they’ve honed all summer long.
It’s Week 2 (or 3, if you count the silly Week Zero, which has zero appeal to me) for the top of the college football world, and opening week for small schools like Centenary. Well, it’s not really opening week for Centenary, which is playing an exhibition game at home Saturday. I didn’t think there were exhibition games in college football, but there’s apparently one Saturday evening in the shadow of the Gold Dome.
Half the teams that play this week will win. My palm reader didn’t share that wisdom, but I know it’s true.
None of them will enjoy victory more than my Northwestern Demons did a week ago tonight, ending a miserable 20-game skid that spanned 1,027 days since November 2022. It was a milestone, maybe not yet a turning point, but the first rays of sunshine in forever for the people in purple. A night that reaffirmed the patient, tough, value-centered philosophy imbued on the very young Demons by their dynamic coach, Blaine McCorkle, who has zagged when nearly every other college coach is zigging. McCorkle is all in on signing high school kids, not plunging into the transfer portal to any significant degree.
That was part of the reason his players, 50 who are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, 82 percent from Louisiana, were chanting “Blaine Train” while surrounding their coach, NSU president Jimmy Genovese and athletic director Kevin Bostian in the mosh pit environment of the winning locker room.
Up I-49 two nights later, Grambling won in a romp over an outmatched Langston squad in the Shreveport Kickoff Classic. Back home in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana Tech started satisfactorily, struggling offensively (again) but blanking a pretty good Southland Conference team, Southeastern. Finally, LSU didn’t disappoint in its debut, looking better as the night went on and holding off Clemson in a top 10 power struggle.
So what does this Saturday give us? Carnage.
Grambling is at Ohio State. Not Ohio Wesleyan. The halftime show will be sensational. The defending national champion Buckeyes are now No. 1 again. They will treat the Tigers like the G-Men lashed Langston.
NSU goes to Minnesota. The Gophers are not a national power but they are a solid Big Ten team. Despite the Demons’ 1-0 start, they’re still at least a year away, probably two, from being ready for prime time. Like a Louisiana construction project, this is not an overnight build.
Tech gets to our big stage, the real Death Valley. Clemson’s scoreboard caught on fire in pregame last week when some fireworks went awry. The Tiger Stadium scoreboard won’t burn up, but the Bulldogs had trouble scoring against SLU, which has no future NFL players, certainly nothing comparable to Harold Perkins and pals.
My fortune cookies didn’t tell me all that. But I’m good with the future as described post-fried rice.
“Your Sunday will be filled with positive energy and good vibes.” Surely that means Aaron Rodgers will be all the Steelers need him to be, or at least, really sharp leading them to a convincing win over the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, and Spencer Rattler can surprise everybody and spark the Saints over the Arizona Cardinals.
“You will soon receive a large sum of money.” You get that fortune with a $1.4 billion Powerball jackpot bubbling? Or even a $2 million Louisiana Lotto prize? I was just as likely to be struck by lightning during last week’s storms, but … you can’t win if you don’t play.
I bought my tickets. Did not match one number. But until they were drawn at 10 o’clock last night, I had a chance.
Saturday, so will the Demons, G-Men and Bulldogs. Difference is, although they won’t hit any numbers either, they all WILL tote home a large sum of money.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com