One quick Q&A

What does an expat listen to at 1:30 local time on a Saturday morning?

High School Football.

Better yet, tonight is one of the most storied rivalry games in all of high school football, the Bell Game between Brookfield and Marceline, neighboring towns in North Missouri's Linn County. In the UK, such a game would akin to a cross-town derby in the Conference leagues, one that even Jeff Stelling would probably overlook in favour of reports from a match between Aston Villa and Fulham.

The two times I covered the Bell Game, I became immersed in it. There's more to the rivalry than the game itself; it's the spirit between the two towns, how families in both towns grew up around their schools. How, in spite of the depopulation of North Missouri's farmlands and the construction of freeways bypassing even smaller towns, two nearby towns with fabled sons (Pershing in the case of Brookfield; Disney for Marceline) stand together, support one another, at least until it comes to duking it out on the gridiron for a fire engine bell. It's quite an alluring sight and sound, ringing the bell in your home town's main street upon winning it.

Tonight's game is on KIRK 99.9 out of Macon. Live audio stream here.

(Oh, and before I forget, GO JAYS! BEAT RAY-PEC!)