Life's funny.
I had lived 52 years without witnessing a state-championship football game; and then -- amazingly -- I saw two in less than 24 hours.
A week ago Friday night, my 9-year-old son and I planted ourselves in front of the television to watch the Columbia Central High School Lions, my hometown team, take on the Hendersonville Commandos in the TSSAA Class 5A championship game in Cookeville, Tenn. A football team from Columbia had not won a state championship since 1952, six years before I was born.
Columbia, known mostly for its annual Mule Day celebration and for being the ancestral home of president James K. Polk, has never made many headlines in football. That changed on the night of Dec. 3 as the Lions defeated Hendersonville 28-7. It was the team's second appearance in the championship game in as many years.
By the end of the first quarter, my older son was asleep on the couch. In retrospect, it was just as well because I spent the rest of the evening trying to swallow a big old lump in my throat.
As the game began, Mike Keith, the voice of the Tennessee Titans and play-by-play man for the TSSAA 5A championship game, explained the story behind a hand-painted sign in the Columbia rooting section that read: "Fight like Rebeor."
Dylan Rebeor, a 15-year-old wide receiver on the Columbia team, had died earlier that very day, losing his battle with cancer, Keith explained. When the Make-A-Wish Foundation folks had come calling during his illness, Rebeor asked for new helmets and pads for his teammates instead of something for himself, Keith said.
Minutes before he died on that Friday morning, Rebeor reportedly asked his mother, "Did we win?"
"Yes," he was told tenderly, even though the championship game had not yet been played, Keith said.
As they sat in the locker room in Cookeville waiting to take the field, the still-stunned Columbia players were said to have been quiet and introspective. One of Rebeor's teammates, Eric Belew, Dylan's good friend, broke the silence, according to a firsthand report.
Columbia Daily Herald reporter Skyler Swisher described the scene in the locker room:
Belew exhorted his teammates: "(Let's) show them the power of Dylan. Regardless if we win or lose, if we show the power of Dylan, we are champions in my mind.''
"The team erupted," Swisher reported in the Daily Herald. "The locker-room doors flung open. The crowd -- many wearing shirts that read 'CHS Lions Fight Like Rebeor' -- exploded in cheers. The band blared the fight song."
If you'll pardon an observation: Hendersonville never had a chance. As one seasoned sports journalist later told me: "Columbia could have beaten the (Pittsburgh) Steelers that night."
My son and I had debated earlier in the week whether to travel to Cookeville the next day to watch his hometown team, the Signal Mountain Eagles, play for a state championship.
A friend had advised me that when it comes to state championship games, waiting for "next year" is never a good idea. "You don't have to tell me," I said.
Late in the first half, as the Signal Mountain team tied the game on a long touchdown pass, I looked over to see my son bouncing like a pogo stick, his face flush with joy.
In that moment, I thought about Dylan Rebeor, the fragility of life and the power of team sports to channel our best emotions. I turned, bear-hugged my son and savored his celebratory moment.
"What's wrong, Dad?" my boy said, noticing perhaps that my hug was unusually long and strong.
"Nothing's wrong, buddy," I said. "I just love you -- a lot."
He smiled. "I love you, too," he said, and quickly turned his attention back to the game.
And the clock ticked away ... as it does for us all.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter at @TFPCOLUMNIST. Share links to his columns on Facebook at "Mark Kennedy, Chattanooga columnist."