From the guy who did "Die Hard on A Deadline"...

Want some feedback from you fine folk....

Back in September, we went to play Mississippi Valley State. I actually wanted to go, figuring if I'm a senior writer at an HBCU football team, then a visit to the Itta Benas, Gramblings and Orangeburgs of the world is a must.

Quite an experience.

Thing is, with now being a one-man shop, still having some block issues one month after dad passing, the passing attempts at the write all fell flat, and I tabled it.

Then I saw Springsteen's movie. Damn. If he can try playing in a barn with a house band and 30 piece orchestra, well, why can't I try something?

Yeah, I might be in a Chris Gaines phase, but so what?

Here's my stab at creativity....

I’ve been to Itta Bena
I’ve been to Mud Creek Idaho
Towns in Texas like Odessa
Where no one really plans to go.

Channeling my Springsteen
A gridiron poet on his rounds
Tryin' to magnify my calling
Writers write about these towns

Ain’t no media darling
Spewing convenient facts to stir the pot
Have to head to Itta Bena
A badge of honor for my lot

Hell yeah, I’d love to have Tuas
Zions and Arikes on our teams
But I thank God for the Cletrells and Ashantis
And we go to Itta Benas chasing dreams.

So …"Welcome to the Delta!"
Gameday staffers greets me-they’re all nice
And work my way to the field where
Totten heaved all those touchdowns to Jerry Rice.

Satellite smiles and makes it over
A brief visit among the brotherhood
Reminisce about days in the arena
For a few minutes It’s all good

Was a two-hour ride from Jackson
Bus wifi sputtered half way out.
Had to gaze outside the window
To see what the last chance is all about.

Cotton fields stretch out for miles
Not a single word is said
Players silently contemplating
For ancestors long since dead

The worn out place they gas up also
Out back has the best damn barbecue
Then in the hamlet called Itta Bena
Time to do what you really came to do

They made Sipp Jucos into a show
One you both love and hate to see
Sometimes what makes good reality television
Makes for sad reality.

We have of those kids from nearby
Last year his team was 0-9.
Family watches him show out
Scores our first points with a safety on the line.

The Game? It goes our way.
Band at halftime plays Earth Wind and Fire.
Another score on the ticker
Another recap on the wire.

Gridiron’s always a Gridiron
Fields are lined, rules all are the same
But away from studios and weekend palaces
Is where real people play the game

Yeah I’ve been to Itta Bena
Worse ways to spend a humid early season night
Board the bus and head back up to Jackson
To make the midnight charter flight

 

Really well done.

 

Very nice.

 

Well done.
Well, all except that last verse. Having been to Itta Bena myself, I'm pretty sure there aren't many places worse to spend a Saturday night that don't involve some level of incarceration.

 

We won. Otherwise, I might agree...

 

No references to Walter Payton? Steve McNair? Doug Williams?

For shame.

(Seriously ... nicely done. Points regained for the Earth, Wind & Fire reference)

 

The game WAS played on September 21 ...

Washington's 2 TDs Keys 's 22-6 Win At MVSU - Bethune-Cookman University Athletics

 

If you have not been, you owe yourself a trip to Birmingham for the Classic. Tailgating starts four or five days before the game, and there's a traffic jam trying to get to Legion Field on Friday night before the game.

It's a helluva scene. Hell, the Battle of the Bands is worth the trip all by itself.

 

Just wrapped up a Florida Classic ... We've won 9 in a row and had 56K in the stands.

Thing is, the local paper only had a stringer there -- he did three great writes and I'm glad he got the exposure -- and I had to send photos to my old shop 50 miles away. Throw in the "media" who only show up at homecoming and classic .... oh, well.

None of y'all commented on my Jemele Hill reference...