We’re so close, and yet so far

This is a very peculiar time of year.
Football teams in our area opened up fall camp today, but it’s not real football because for the first three days or so they’re required to run around in helmets and shorts doing drills and getting “acclimated” to the heat before they can put on the pads.
High school coaches’ interviews are filled with optimistic quotes about how they and their players are ready to start blocking and tackling again.
Sports channels are filled with conversations about whether or not this team or that one will win X number of games this season, and whether this five-star quarterback or that one will have what it takes when he steps onto the field.
This is the month before college football. The month where there is no shortage of talk about how teams will fare in the upcoming season, but that’s all it is.
No one knows much of anything for sure until the chin straps are buckled and the pads start popping during a game that counts.
Football fans can still have fun during this time of gridiron limbo, however.
We still have a few precious weeks to reminisce about the glories of last season or, if need be, remove the taste of bitter defeat from our minds.
We still have time to brag about the hyped recruit a favorite team snagged in the offseason before the hyped recruit puts on a uniform and risks playing like a freshman.
We still have time to pour over the precious new playoff system before we put it into practice, and we’re going to take full advantage of it.
In the coming days the fervor of football will spread like wildfire until, finally, toe meets leather and the season begins.
The time many of us are waiting for is still a little ways off in the distance.
While we anticipate a new season of tackles and touchdowns, we might as well enjoy the talk that’s leading up to it.