By the time you've poured your first cup of coffee this July Fourth morning, there's an excellent chance that Chattanooga Lookouts president Rich Mozingo already will be in his office at AT&T Field, making sure this evening's 6:15 game against the Birmingham Barons and the fireworks show to follow will both go off without a hitch.
And having arrived at his office before 9 a.m., he isn't likely to head home until after midnight.
"But I only do this 70 days a year," he said Tuesday morning. "And I've been doing it for 25 years. Any time your ballpark is full of people, it's a fun day. I imagine we'll have a full house of 6,370, just like we always do, because we've sold out every July Fourth I can remember."
No offense to the quality product the Lookouts routinely put on the field, but the fireworks are no doubt a very large reason for one of AT&T's two largest crowds of the year - the other being Used Car Night. Mozingo recalled when 15-20 years ago "there were probably 45 places in this town you could go watch fireworks on the Fourth. It's not that way anymore."
There also seem to be fewer and fewer places where we can gather together as a community, regardless of race, creed or economic level. Mozingo expects to sell close to 1,000 hot dogs and more than 1,200 soft drinks tonight, and he knows that people of all ages, races and tax brackets will buy them.
"It's just such a great place for people to come together, enjoy the National Pastime and celebrate the Fourth of July," he said. "It's one reason why the Southern League has in its bylaws that every team will host a game on either July third or July fourth."
Not that AT&T Field is the only sports venue in our town tonight that will become a melting pot. When the Chattanooga Football Club takes the Finley Stadium pitch against Inter Nashville at 7:30, the stands will be culturally diverse enough to pass for a United Nations picnic.
"It's a culmination of all things CFC," general manager Sean McDaniel said Tuesday evening. "We're synonymous with family. We're synonymous with country. And what combines both those things better than coming together to celebrate the country's birthday?"
Unlike the Lookouts, the CFC won't be shooting off fireworks tonight, though CFC backers will have one of the better spots in town to watch the the pyrotechnics at AT&T Field.
What McDaniel can offer his team's supporters that the Lookouts won't is an athletic contest with immediate importance.
"We've come to be known nationally for hosting playoff games," he said. "If we win against Nashville, we expect to host a playoff game next week."
There are those who believe that soccer is the country's new national pastime, given the massive number of young men and women who play it, as well as the explosion of professional, semipro and high amateur leagues in this country, such as CFC's National Premier Soccer League.
McDaniel won't go that far, but he also knows that his expected crowd of more than 4,000 to watch a sporting event without fireworks on the Fourth of July carries its own bit of clout.
"It may be 4,000, but they will be loud," he said. "We've built a very loyal following full of passion for the CFC. I don't know that soccer is supplanting other sports in this country - it's certainly not like it is in the rest of the world - but it's also growing every year, and with the World Cup going on, you really see the interest building."
Numbers from a Gallup poll taken this past December support McDaniel's beliefs. While only 1 percent of those polled aged 55 or over named soccer their favorite sport, adults 18-34 named it 11 percent of the time, tying basketball and nearly doubling baseball (6 percent). And that was in a non-World Cup year, which usually boosts interest significantly.
Yet that really has nothing to do with July Fourth other than this country was founded on the promise of freedom 242 years ago today, and that freedom includes embracing the sports of our choice.
But that freedom also comes with a cost. Mozingo's father served in the Air Force for 23 years. His father-in-law served in the Army. The sacrifices of good men such as those are a huge reason why so many of us can sleep in today before heading off to watch baseball and soccer and fireworks.
As darkness descends on AT&T Field tonight, Mozingo's wife and their two children will join him to watch the sky fill with bellowing booms and bright brilliance. Baseball, hotdogs, fireworks. Our country's 242nd birthday. What could be more American than that?
Said Mozingo: "I think it gets more emotional every year."
It's when we quit feeling emotional about this day that our nation will be in trouble.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com