DADvocate

Before my son's team's football games, we have a "tailgate" event where we sell a sandwich and sides with a pop for $5. This week the sandwich was grilled rib eye steak. Pretty good.

It was senior night and we were playing a team that we only beat by one point last year. It had rained most of the day. The field was sloggy and we felt apprehensive. Then the rainbow appeared.

In the sky shown perhaps the most perfect rainbow I ever saw. A complete arch of colors graces the sky. A dimmer rainbow floated beside the brighter one.

I was tempted to take it as a good omen but I know that scientifically there is no such thing. But, the rainbows' beauty lifted our spirits from the rainy, gloomy day. On my cellphone I couldn't capture the entire rainbow in one shot, so the two halves are below.

My son's team ended up winning 23-0. My son got plenty of playing time, playing both offensive and defense. More than anything I'm proud my son has had the opportunity to play with this team, a group of over-achievers. After losing many starters, we were simply hoping for a winning season.

Players in every class stepped up and played better than expected. The coaches worked hard and had the team well prepared for every game. And they played their hearts out as a team. This is what I like about every football team my son has played on, the team spirit.

On his team, there are players for every socio-economic background. The encourage each other, support each other and cheer each other on. They are a group that genuinely cares about each other. I give the coaches their fair share of credit for building this team atmosphere but the kids carry it out.

As it turned out, this year's team bested last year's 7-3 regular season team by going 8-2 in the regular season.

Next week play-offs start. Wish us luck.