This is why I'm not a sports writer.

Published on Poststar.com, Web exclusive

11/02/05

Cambridge and Salem are the kind of places that feel like they could be the set for a movie about small-town America. Life moves at a slower pace than in the big city, and no one gets too riled up about anything.

Except, of course, football. Their varsity boys football teams will face off for the Class D section title on Saturday.

A few days before the big game, a reporter set out to find out whether high school football was on everyone's minds in these small towns.

What she found was that even when people say they don't follow football, they do. Everyone knows about the rivalry between the Cambridge Indians and Salem Generals, and most can tell you that Salem is the only team Cambridge lost to this season.

A handful of locals gathered at the Cambridge Diner around lunch time, including Danny Foster, a retired educator. He lived in Cambridge for 30 years before moving down the road to North Hoosic, and he's been an Indians fan for years.

"It's interesting to watch the kids develop from Pee Wee football on up," he said. "It's really fun to identify a good player at 6 or 7, and watch how they progress."

He plans to be at Saturday's game in Hudson Falls, wearing a Cambridge sweatshirt with the name and number of a former player -- his grandson, Justin Schmigel. Even though his grandson graduated several years ago, Foster still enjoys watching the games.

So, is football a big deal around here?

Foster raised his eyebrows and put down his burger.

"Yeah," he said slowly, in the tone a dairy farmer might use if you had just asked whether milk comes from cows.

"I mean, it's a rural town. It's not like on Saturday you have a choice of 300 things to do," he explained.

A few miles north in Salem, things were even quieter, but there were a few telltale signs of football rivalry. Outside Bain's Auto, the owner had strung up a white sheet painted with a football, the names and numbers of all the Salem players, and the words "Rough and Ready, Salem Generals Are #1."

Inside the local hardware store, a handful of local men gathered around the counter when the reporter dropped the word "football."

"I think this'll be Salem's year," said David Linendoll, a store employee. Earlier in the day, he had listened as two customers had placed a bet on Saturday's game. One man was from Salem, and the other was from Cambridge.

"I won't say how much, but they bet more than I would have put on a football game," he said.

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