Put me in coach . . .

The air is getting a little cooler. It is my time of the year. Watched a little football between doing the to-do list Saturday. Went to the River Revival on the Locust Fork Sunday afternoon. And this year add an incredibly interesting presidential election. Life is good.

Autumn, college football, and presidential politics.

I love to be a fan, to be all in for my team.

But there is a difference between being in the game, and being a fan of the game. I am afraid that when it comes to being citizens, we Americans have become fans of our great nation instead of players. And we are supposed to be THE players.

What's the difference? A fan does not have to prepare. A fan can choose a side, sit in the stands and cheer, hoping that his or her team has prepared appropriately and put the right players in the right positions. A fan can join in the cheers with the attractive cheerleaders. And then the fan can make ridiculous statements on Monday morning without recourse if things do not go well.

We have plenty of pep rallies. Conservatives can get a fix any hour of the day on Fox News. Liberals can depend on the likes of Keith Olberman or Rachel Maddow. Pep rallies are not a bad thing. Players go to pep rallies. But they cannot be the only thing.

Real players and coaches do not make game plans based on pep rallies. They study films of the opponent and know their real strengths and weaknesses. They honestly evaluate their own talent, putting the best players available in the right positions, and then make decisions on their best evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses and their opponents strengths and weaknesses. Players and coaches don't make ridiculous statements on Monday mornings (generally). They are already at work preparing for the next challenge.

And when coaches and teams prepare for an opponent, they must acknowledge the strengths of the opposition as they prepare. If they do not, the plan is doomed to fail. And while fans may never realize it, this preparation creates a respect for the opponent, sometimes grudgingly, but respect nonetheless. The best coaches adopt some of their opponents best strategies.

But as much as I love a football analogy, it really fails. In fact, it points out one of our weaknesses as a nation right now. We are not two teams. We are one team.

So, get in the game. Your team need you to be a player, as well as a fan. Being a player is a lot more work. But if you are not going to play the game, then you really don't matter. And generally speaking, you don't really know what you are talking about.