For the last few years, Jim Bortzfield has said he’s going to quit. His son, Dustin, has long left the Lake Highlands football program, and, heck, he doesn’t even in live in Lake Highlands anymore.
Bortzfield thought someone might graciously take over the reigns of the website he and Dustin started 12 years ago, but instead Wildcat fans keep asking him to continue the online community known as Friday Lights. The reason Bortzfield created the site? That’s easy: His son asked him to.
The internet was young, and Bortzfield’s skills were lacking, but the concept caught on. A few years later, he created The Boneyard Board — a forum for open discussion on Wildcats and high school football. During a typical football season, the site receives about 10,000 hits a month.
In a great Wildcat season, like 1998, Bortzfield saw the total rise to 50,000. Why does he keep at it? The main reason reaches back to his appreciation of Lake Highlands football.
“I saw with my son that Lake Highlands football made a better man out of him," Bortzfield says. "They learn so much discipline and character.”
Who knows how long Bortzfield will keep it up, but a good guess is if you ask him nicely, he’ll keep the lights on.
