Lucky for me football is beginning.

While I will definitely be watching my share of NFL games, my primary focus will be on high school football.

I was born a Texan and football to this state is like what the Olympics were to Beijing. It’s just that serious.

Most of the teams around the area here live for the sport.

If you go to some other places, baseball might be the highlight or volleyball, track or golf.

Not here. I have actually seen, on several occassions, adults in the stands who had no children or affiliation to the schools but paid for a ticket just to come watch the game. That’s love.

While the town I live in may not quite be on the level of the one in “Remember the Titans,” I’ve noticed a few buildings closing earlier on Friday nights when one of the schools is playing at home.

And high school athletes, like most college athletes, still have a major passion for the game. I think NFL players sometimes get swept up in the fame and forget that they are doing what they absolutely love. Maybe we can all learn a lesson from that.

Bring on the pigskin!

Two gold medals and one silver medal with more still to come.

The dynamic duo of Misty May and Kerri Walsh started things off with a gold medal in beach volleyball. The team is just amazing, there is no other word for it, and is the winningest combination in men’s or women’s beach volleyball.

It wasn’t a big suprise that they won, considering they hadn’t lost a set in the Olympic tournament, but it was still a joy to watch. It may be the end for those two with talks of starting families, but we’ll have to see.

That was followed up with the men’s team of Phil Dalhauser and Todd Rogers, who also took gold by beating the top Brazilian team. May and Walsh were in the stands to cheer them on.

In indoor volleyball, the women’s team played Brazil but fell in four games to take the silver medal.

The program will conclude tomorrow when the men’s team plays for the gold medal as well.

I was at home watching it all unfold myself and realizing how historic the moment was.

It had been over 30 years since anyone had gotten close to Mark Spitz’s record of eight gold medals in an Olympic game, much less tie it, so to be there and get to experience it was amazing.

I couldn’t think of another athlete who deserved it more either.

Half-fish, half-superhero, half-whatever, Michael Phelps is a class act and a true representative of the United States.

He had a little help from some of his teammates, especially Jason Leezak, and Phelps was quick to acknowledge that and thank them, showing how humble he is.

It was truly a moment in history, and I’m honored to be a spectator of it.

Watching him win his fourth gold medal Tuesday night, I’m starting to believe it.

At just 23 years old, Phelps won his record 10th gold medal in his young career, and becomes the winningest Olympian in history.

Talk about wow.

The medal came when he set, big suprise, another world record, this time in the 200 butterfly with 1:52.03.

He will go for his fifth win later on tonight, but is heavily favored in the race.

The Americans as a whole have had a decent showing.

Monday night, the men’s gymnastic team clinched the third spot on the podium, earning a surprising bronze medal.

The surprise was not because the medal was bronze.

The surprise was that they medaled at all.

After the loss of twins Morgan and Paul Hamm, the team was made up of mostly alternates, but put together an impressive display of teamwork and fought to win a medal.

If Phelps and the other American athletes continue on the pace they are on, this will be a phenomenal Olympics.

Opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics began today in Beijing amidst the expected amount of spectators and fans all watching the most prized athletes from their countries.

With all of the drama surrounding China, it will be nice to see if the Olympics will help defer most if not all of that negative attention. I don’t think it will be a problem.

When you think about what area would be a favorite, at least to Americans watching, the first sport that would come to my mind would be basketball.

U.S.A. is expected to have a great team, not that that has meant much in the past, and it seems like basketball would be considered one of the more “exciting” sports.

The one I’m definitely tuning into?

Swimming.

Normally, I would shock myself with that response, but I know I will not be the only one watching those events.

Even if it just to see how many medals Michael Phelps can hold around his neck at once.

The Olympics are brilliant to me because they have the ability to bring the entire world together to focus on a positive thing.

Sure, the competition is still there, but the atmosphere is so positive and good-natured that one cannot help but take at least a little bit of pride in their home country.

Go U.S.A.

That is not the case.

Out of the eight major professional sports teams in the state, the only team that has come through with some success is the Dallas Stars, who were picked as the underdogs going into last year’s NHL season.

All of the other teams have had potential, but it just hasn’t been met.

The Houston Astros have no chance in hell of being a contender in their division this season, and the Rangers are 12 games behind the Los Angeles Angels.

The Dallas Mavericks, or rather Mark Cuban, made fools of themselves after launching the trade for Jason Kidd who turned out to be not what they needed after all, getting tossed in the first round of the playoffs.

The Rockets looked like they would contend despite the season-ending injury of Yao Ming, but eventually met their fate in the playoffs as well.

The multi-NBA champion San Antonio Spurs had a less than par performance of the playoffs to seal off the Texas teams for last year’s NBA season.

In football, the Cowboys made a big fuss during the regular season before fizzling out in a rather boring loss in the first round of the playoffs.

The Houston Texans, try as they might, still cannot seem to get over that invisible hump that has been there since the franchise began playing.

It’s not like the potential isn’t there.

It would just be nice to see it exercised.

After being reinstated by the NFL, Favre just cannot seem to make up his mind on what he wants to do regarding staying with the Packers or leaving.

By Tuesday, it was evident that he and the Green Bay organization could not agree on what to do next.

Most of the people I know are tired of hearing about it.

If the Packers won’t release or trade him, then he needs to retire like he SAID he would do. He gets no sympathy from me just because he can’t make up his mind.

While he still may have something left, he’s old. Nobody thought he would last that long last season. His time has come and it seems that he is the only one that can’t really grasp that concept.

Retirement is a life-changing decision and once you come to a conclusion on that, you need to stick with the choice that you made.

If he wasn’t really sure he wanted to retire, which he obviously wasn’t, then he shouldn’t have made the statements to the media.

It’s over, just accept it and move on.

I grew up with Alex Rodriguez, in his pre-Madonna days, and Ken Griffey, Jr. as my idols.

When Griffey left, I was devasted, much more so than when A-Rod signed for more money.

Now, Ichiro is the face of the Mariners, but I’ll always have the memories of Griffey.

Once he went to Cincinnatti, things went sour and as resentful as I was that he was no longer with Seattle, I never would have wished those seasons on him that he had with the Reds.

Now he’s going to Chicago and despite being old, I believe he still has it in him. The last several years have not been too kind to him, but his abilities may still be there, lurking beneath the age and fatigue.

When he was a Mariner, he seemed on top of the baseball world. Now, it appears that he is a long way off from that.

I hope that Chicago will be much better to him, and maybe, just maybe, he can use the next few years before retirement to show the world a glimpse of the player he used to be.

On July 19, a small town high school in Montana suffered a tremendous loss when four students were killed when their vehicle crashed, rolled and burst into flames.

All four boys ages 14-18 were killed.

Investigators and police could not figure out why the truck crashed, because no speeding or dangerous driving was involved.

The quartet represented 10-percent of the school’s athletic program.

A service was held at the school’s football field, and the stands overflowed with loved ones as well as rival schools and classmates.

Sports are often based on rivalries and the competition, but whenever tragedy strikes, teamwork becomes more important.

Whether it’s the members of the team or other athletes around the area, humanity and unity take priority over anything else during the tough times.

Most people that keep up with the team know that the Cowboys are going to be pretty stacked this season.

They were pretty stacked last year, but due to Jessica Simpson or whatever, couldn’t quite get over the hump the last two weeks of the season.

With most of last year’s guys returning, it’s a pretty safe bet that Dallas will be in contention for the playoffs.

That’s just an outsider’s viewpoint, since Jones hasn’t mentioned anything besides how excited he is.

His main topic was the new billion-dollar stadium, which opens next year.

With no mention of Terrell Owens or Tony Romo’s love life, the only drama going on seemed to be the absence of Terry Glenn, who is still holding out from signing an injury waiver that reduces his salary should he reinjure his knee.

Glenn had been absent during all of the offseason workouts and unless he signs the waiver, it doesn’t look like the Cowboys are going to back down.