I have a confession to make.

I’ve never been to a Red Carpet Bowl. Not one. I’ve never even driven past the stadium while it was going on. It sounds like a piece in a Kim Kardashian kitchen set and the only red carpet I’ve ever walked down was shag and in my grandma’s house because she was unable to escape 1974.

But I’ve learned. And boy, am I glad I did.

I was thrust into the history, pageantry and planning of the Red Carpet Bowl within hours of being at the Vicksburg Post. My first day on the job I was asked to cover a Red Carpet Bowl committee meeting where I got to take an inside look at the proceedings before witnessing the proceedings themselves. I sat right behind Mayor George Flaggs Jr. without knowing it, and when he gave me a warm smile and introduced himself simply as “George” I didn’t know if he were a mayor or a meteorologist. I was clueless, and not in the Alicia Silverstone kind of way.

After sheepishly introducing myself and hoping to mask my ignorance with a cheesy smile, the meeting began. The rich history of the Red Carpet Bowl played out before my eyes as Travis Wayne Vance orated the event’s past in a more eloquent way than I could ever duplicate. It was then that I realized how significant this thing is to Mississippi high school football and, more importantly, the city of Vicksburg. He wasn’t just going through the motions. He was going through the emotions.

Then I talked to Porters Chapel Academy coach Wayne Lynch about the inclusion of PCA for the first time in Red Carpet Bowl history. He called it a defining moment of the school’s football program and his excitement resonated throughout the cozy football office in the back of the weight room. You could see on his face how important it was to him and his players. This wasn’t any game. It was the Red Carpet Bowl.

Vicksburg head coach Marcus Rogers beamed as he discussed the surprises he has in store for those in attendance this Friday. I was about ready to suit up and get smashed in the mouth by a kid half my age and twice my size after listening to him talk about the excitement surrounding the event. Thankfully, I saw one of the players tower past me in the hallway and the thought raced out of my head faster than Paul Wilson after a pick.

The committee has been patient with me as I botch their names and reintroduce myself to the same people over and over again. Players and coaches have sat through my countless interview questions without openly showing how much they hate my guts. I guess it’s all a part of the Red Carpet Bowl magic, like that feeling you get around Christmas when someone could punch you in the face and you still would wish them Happy Holidays through crooked teeth. Why? Because it’s the most wonderful time of the year, that’s why.

This Friday at 3:30 p.m., when the sun is pounding at your back and the air feels like it’s actively trying to suffocate you, I’ll be in the stands watching history play out before my eyes. I’ll stay when Warren Central runs onto the field for its matchup, and I’ll still be inside Memorial Stadium well into the night when the clock hits 00:00 after Vicksburg’s game. And you should too.

The names and numbers of these players might be lost in the archives of time, but the Red Carpet Bowl itself never will.

It lives on in people like you and me, the memories dancing around our head like a touchdown celebration long after the last yellow bus has cruised out of the parking lot.

Because this is more than just a game, you know.

It’s the Red Carpet Bowl.

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Cory Gunkel is a reporter. He can be reached by email at cory.gunkel@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545.