I wasn’t ready.

A few months ago, I went to the West St. John High School athletics banquet to get a couple of quotes from Austin Alexander and the Rams track team.

Austin had sprinted to a state championship finish in the 100-meter dash just a few days prior, and it was my first chance to talk to him and take some photos of his medals.

Just as I was about to ask the first question of the young man, a slightly-older-than-Austin gentleman walked up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Ms. Lyons,” he said. “You probably don’t remember me. I’m Adair Alexander. You covered me when I was in school. Austin is my son.”

And he could have knocked me over with a feather.

It’s not that I didn’t see the resemblance in the father and son quarterbacks. But I also saw a bit of my life flash before my eyes.

Can I really be that old? Have I been covering sports in the River Parishes so long that I’m now on my second generation of athletes?

Yep and yes.

While young Austin made his quarterback debut for the Rams Thursday night in Edgard (after a lengthy rain and lightning delay), I was kicking off my 25th football season in the River Parishes.

I did miss one season when someone decided I should be a crime reporter instead of a sports reporter. Then there was that whole laid-off thing. But, for the most part, I have been covering the Saints (St. John, St. Charles and St. James) since 1991.

Of course that’s long enough for that first group of kids to grow up and have children. My kids, as I like to call the many athletes I have covered over the years, have kids. And they’re now old enough for me to be writing about them.

This year’s football rosters have several names I am well acquainted with.

Also in the crowd for Thursday night’s jamboree was former West St. John quarterback Brandon Cannon. During a break in the action, he came over and introduced me to his son, Avonti Cannon, now a starting wide receiver at Riverside Academy.

Brandon has filled out a little bit since graduating in 1996, but Avonti looks much like his dad did back then. And his dad is very proud.

At St. James High, the football roster is full of juniors with names I remember — and I don’t mean their year in school.

Eltonary Oubre was a stand-out wide receiver and defensive back at St. James High School back in the 1990s. He was so good, in fact, that I selected him along with a couple of other star players, to be on the cover of the football tab. “Air Men,” we called them and posed them under the Blue Angel at the St. John Airport.

Now, Eltonary is a teacher and counselor at the school and there is another Eltonary on the football roster. His son is a senior linebacker.

Across the river at Lutcher is another player with a familiar name.

Anyone remember Rondel Mealey?

I certainly do. Mealey, who graduated from Destrehan High, was one of the best ball-carriers I ever saw play the game. He went on to a nice career at LSU then a brief stint in the NFL. After that he gave teaching and coaching a go.

Now he’s a dad, ready to watch his son with his name carry on his legacy as a Lutcher Bulldog.

And I’m here to tell the tale.

A few years ago, another athlete I covered introduced me to his son.

With his arm around the youngster, former West St. John quarterback Ira Jackson leaned down to his son and said, “You know that big scrapbook Daddy is always showing you? She wrote all that.”

And I hope to continue to do so for the next generation.

Lori Lyons is the sports editor at L’OBSERVATEUR. She can be reached at 985-652-9545 or lori.lyons@lobservateur.com.