Country Mike Blog

Twang or tackles?

Mike Sudhalter  |  August 29, 2007

Tailgating, country music and football are three great American pasttimes.

That's why I can't understand why Sacramento radio station KNCI scheduled its Country In The Park festival for Sept. 9, the first Sunday of the National Football League season.

I mean, most country music fans also love football. This wouldn't be so bad if it was scheduled in say, Georgia, where college football is king. And not to mention the fact that the team in Atlanta is fixin' to struggle this season.

But this is northern California, where professional football trumps the collegiate game. The 49ers and Raiders have combined for eight Super Bowls. What's the best thing Stanford has done? Played in the Rose Bowl.

The show, which I plan on attending, will be headlined by country star Gary Allan, who hails from the NFL-less Los Angeles area. The rest of the acts likely won't be distracted by the start of the NFL season. Kellie Pickler and Bucky Covington are both from North Carolina, but the Carolina Panthers are relatively new to that state.

Sawyer Brown has been touring for so long and so intensely, they probably never have time to watch the NFL, and Carmen Rasmussen probably pays more attention to the Edmonton Eskimos' quest for the Canadian Football League title than the Super Bowl chase.

In fairness to the folks at KNCI, it would have been tough to schedule an outdoor concert festival in the summer. Last year, I attended the Kat Country festival in Turlock, Calif. in June, and it was way too hot. Also, the 49ers won't be playing Sunday, instead they're scheduled to host Arizona on Monday Night Football. So that leaves the Raiders fans who may skip the festival to watch their squad face the Detroit Lions.

I'm a New England Patriots fan, but I care too much about a good country music show to miss this one. Besides, there's 16 weeks of football to go.