BELL COUNTY—A Pop Warner football game took on new meaning Saturday morning to parents from Fort Hood days after a shooting rampage on post that left 13 soldiers dead.
“I just want to think about football and my boy having fun,” said Staff Sgt. Allen Ervin, whose 9-year-old boy is a running back for the Nittany Lions. “This isn’t about winning or losing. It’s just about these young kids enjoying life.”
The game between the Nittany Lions and Falcons was for bragging rights entering the playoffs for the Central Texas Youth Sports League. But winning and losing seemed to take on much less significance to a number of parents in the stands.
Lt. Col. Dale Watson’s son plays defense for the Lions. Watson said watching the game was about finding a sense of normalcy again, even though Thursday’s massacre continued to haunt many in attendance. “That’s weighing heavily on all of us. It’s something every soldier thinks about, along with most of the local community. There’s no way it doesn’t affect you.”
The game, while being a welcome distraction, offered no field of dreams. Yet for about an hour on Saturday, childhood innocence seemed to take priority, even in the aftermath of so much sorrow.
