My Struggle With Hearing About Southampton Football Lose Against East Hampton
I currently live in Southampton and truly love this town. I enjoy where I live, I enjoy the beaches here, I enjoy Main Street and the restaurants. It’s wonderful.
I grew up in East Hampton, went to Springs elementary school after a brief stint at Catholic school in Sag Harbor, then went to East Hampton High School. I began playing football for the Bonackers as a quarterback beginning in 7th grade and didn’t stop until my junior year after getting a nasty blow to my chest during a tackle. The dent in my chest is still there. I can remember vividly being on the field and Ronnie White, a former quarterback for East Hampton and a real estate broker now in East Hampton, putting his hand over my chest, feeling the dent, and freaking out about it.
I LOVE FOOTBALL. It’s the only game I’ve ever played where I truly, to this day am completely fascinated by how difficult it is to play, how cool headed you have to be on your feet, and how incredibly challenging of it is mentally and physically.
I miss coach Burns and McGarver sometimes, and I see them around. Coach Burns is now coaching at Westhampton Beach, where they are having a winning season.
The rivalry between East Hampton and Southampton football is very real, and during this year’s homecoming in East Hampton, the Bonackers beat Southampton under the leadership of coach Bill Barbour Sr.
I was happy about it, but then I ran into my neighbor, who has a son that plays for Southampton, and I said hello and got to talking about football. Before I knew it, I found myself giving her son as much advice as I could think of when it came to football (not that it’s any good advice, even though I started a few seasons, I was never all that good).
I thought to myself this question, “Should I be giving this kid advice? Southampton is my sworn football enemy!”
But I kept on talking and began telling him my experiences as a football player in the hope that it would somehow help him, and ultimately, help Southampton.
In years past, I’d feel happy if Southampton lost at football, but today, I feel like I want both of them to win. I’ll always root for the Bonackers, it’s in my blood, but I will say this after living in Southampton, if the Mariner’s aren’t playing the Bonackers, I’m gonna root for them too.
On a side note, I’m a Yankee fan. And when I lived in Boston while in college, I hated the Red Sox.
I still do.
I think that says a lot about how great of a town Southampton is.