There are eight fall sports at Ladue High School. Most of the time though, in the eyes of most students anyway, the only one that exists is football.

Our football team wasn’t a raging success last year with a 6-4 record. The field hockey team has reached the Elite Eight of the playoffs for the last five years. The cross country team (boys and girls) have performed admirably in the state competitions during the last four years. The soccer team even won their second district title last year (something that the football team failed to do). Why then does football command so much attention from students? There are a few simple reasons for this.

The first is simply that football is a popular American sport, unlike soccer, volleyball, or swimming. Both college and professional football are watched widely by the student body whereas the other sports are generally only watched during the Summer Olympics every four years.

The second is that the timing of football night games are much better than the late afternoon times of the other fall sports. Students have more time on Friday nights and even Saturday afternoons than they do for 4:15 game times during the week. Additionally, these night games are great appetizers to the parties that naturally follow.

Finally, the varsity football team gets the cheerleaders and dance team at many of their games. Besides helping to raise the energy at football games (making them more fun to attend), it also gives the football team more publicity. When cheerleaders and the dance team show up to school in their uniforms, it is a natural reminder to students that a fun social event is that night. As a result, they are more likely to attend football games while forgetting the other fall sports.

I’m not saying that football games aren’t more intriguing and exciting than the other fall sports to some people. However, particularly with the early success of the soccer team, it’s strange to me that football still remains the only sport worth watching.

I’m just saying.