It’s a sunny Saturday, the third weekend in October. The air is crisp with fall, there’s no humidity, and yet, it’s warm and comfortable. An ideal weather day, in my opinion. Where would I find a contented you? Out on the golf course, in the backyard, or at a college football game? For this sports-minded, country girl from Tennessee, there is no doubt! The attention on the SEC rivalry game that occurs annually between Alabama and Tennessee on the gridiron is notable, even if you aren’t particularly a fan of either school. However, I will admit that currently living in Kentucky, the significance of either orange or crimson is somewhat overshadowed by this bright shade of blue.

In spite of the attention around the day’s SEC matchups and their kickoff times, I am not in Tuscaloosa or Knoxville, Lexington or Louisville, with a 100,000+ fans, but in a stadium with around 1,000 viewing an intense rivalry game between Campbellsville (6-0) and Lindsey Wilson (3-2). And there’s no place I’d rather be. It brings back precious memories of what it means to have an intercollegiate rival geographically located “just down the road.” It means players on the field who were likely teammates just a few years ago in high school. It means bragging rights on the “Highway 55” trophy, or a thousand other little competitions that go unnamed. And as electrifying as all this is, I find myself irritated. I am not a demonstrative fan in any way; however, why are more people not on their feet cheering with minutes to go in this game?

Saturday’s irritation is likely a carryover from Thursday’s volleyball game, a back-and-forth battle over five sets in a packed gym with a similar unexpressed interest from the crowd. I truly am puzzled! And yet, a realization hits as I leave the stands to watch the football game from the track in order to give myself a break from the aluminum bleachers. As I look back up and over the crowd, wondering why only the players’ families are cheering as the final minutes tick off the clock when the game is on the line, I see it. Many in the crowd have no awareness of the intense battle happening right in front of them on the field because they are looking at a screen! I want to scream “Put Down the Phone, stand up, and cheer!” What is happening in front of you, with these young men you personally know and deeply care about on this field, is so important. Please, Pay Attention!

And then I realized how many times these words escaped my mouth on Friday (at least three times) during a twenty-minute class discussion, when instead of having a conversation with a living, breathing person sitting inches from them, if conversation lagged even for a minute, students grabbed for their phones. And people still want to question that a Great Rewiring has occurred? These college students in front of me struggle to disconnect and engage in the here and now. Honestly, even I do not want to be without my smartphone now, I do not want to live in the past, but I am confident that the people around me, these athletes on the field/court who’ve invested hours in practice, would like us to Put Down the Phone and watch!

Not every moment at a sporting event is as intense as what I witnessed this week, with a final result arising out of the final minutes of a back-and-forth battle, but if we aren’t paying attention when these moments do arise and offer our support, why are we even there? Why purchase a ticket? Why travel to the game? Not all of us need to bring cow bells and cheer at every down or serve, the moms, thankfully have that covered Since 1983, but we can Put Down the Phone and engage with the people and events in proximity to us. Let’s be encouraged to live enthusiastically in the moment, cheering on friends and classmates, and maybe even stand a time or two in the stands.