I obviously have no idea what heaven looks like and judging by my track record, I am not likely to get a first-hand view, at least not on the first cut.

The good news is we Catholics have this thing called Purgatory, which is a kind of half-way house for us fallen away members of the tribe. You can only hope you have enough stuff on the good side of the ledger to at least earn you a visit to the Purgatory rung on the afterlife ladder.

However, if I had to envision what I would hope it is like behind the pearly gates, it would resemble the week I had before Labor Day. On Thursday night, my favorite mediocre football team, the South Carolina Gamecocks, blasted Southern Miss, not exactly an NCAA powerhouse. But, a win is a win.

The next afternoon, my favorite females on the face of the earth, my precious granddaughters, Ashley and Ava, made a surprise visit. Ava, age two, danced for me and sang off-key, which is very similar to yours truly. Ashley (4) and I played restaurant. She took my order for my favorite Lebanese food, tabouli and grape leaves, on her computer keyboard. She only charged me $30 for a bowl of tabouli but the grape leaves were only a $1.00….. (each)! Ouch. Good thing we were only just playing.

As my beautiful grandbabies begrudgingly scampered off to home with mom Casey, I piled in the car with one of my twin sons, Jason, and his wife Jessica, better known as “runt” so we could head down to watch his twin brother, Cory, coach up the St. Cloud Bulldogs against their arch rival, Osceola, from nearby Kissimmee, Florida. Cory is head weightlifting coach and strength coach for the Bulldogs and also coaches special teams.

Knowing a coach gets me a sideline pass where I was able to join my son Christopher, better known as “Gutt” and his new bride Viviana, whom I have nicknamed “bones.” “Mooch,” which is Casey’s nickname, had to take the munchkins home because the only thing they are interested in doing at the game is running up and down the handicap ramp.

The setting is lovely. It is the season opener for the fifth oldest rivalry in the state of Florida. Osceola (Kissimmee) is a perennial powerhouse and is a prohibitive favorite to win every time the Kowboys take the field. As thousands of fans pack Tom Gannerelli Field, the sun melts into darkness behind the visiting bleachers, setting the stage for one of best games in their 87 year history on the gridiron.

Like two heavyweight fighters, the two teams slugged it out, trading leads constantly throughout the evening. It became apparent that the last team to score would prevail. Rivalries like this one exist in every community throughout America. This column appears in some 600 papers in 22 countries and I constantly hear from readers telling me about their hometown rivalries. It is a little slice of Americana.

Another thing that became apparent was the best conditioned team would probably prevail. The two squads fought their way to a 35-35 tie at the end of regulation play. You hated to see either one of them lose.

The game went into overtime, utilizing the Kansas State shootout. St. Cloud won the toss and deferred, which is the smart move. It gives you a chance to see what the opposition did. On the first play from scrimmage, Eric Pfiefer pulled the pigskin from the Kowboy runner and the Bulldogs took over on the recovered fumble. I coached Pfiefer’s brother (Pudge/my nickname for him) and often called his name when I was the play-by-play announcer for the Bulldogs.

St. Cloud Head Coach Bill Buldini is a former Osceola assistant. In fact, both teams are laced with coaches that have worked in both schools. It is a job, not a loyalty issue; make no mistake, when a coach switches sides, there are always those who feel betrayed. It is just a job! Coach Buldini earned his first victory and my son Cory enjoyed his first as an assistant coach. As a player and a coach, Cory has never lost to Osceola, winning at the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity levels in high school and now as an assistant coach.

As I stood there between my sons and their beautiful wives, it occurred to me that this is what it is all about-- being with those you love doing what you love.

St. Cloud pushed it in during their series to capture the victory and I leaped into my son Cory’s arms right there on the 50 yard line with tears in my eyes. This has to be at least a glimpse of what heaven is going to look like.