We Got Spirit (yeah, yeah)
I completely forgot to post about the Purdue Pep Rally we attended on Saturday morning before leaving for Logansport. Much like how I completely forgot to attend pep rallies while I was in school. I really regret that I never went to any sporting events/pep rallies while I was actually in school, but my enjoyment of college sports didn’t happen until after I left college. (Hmm… perhaps it came about because I’m not longer in college and now need a way to compensate? Think about that, armchair psychologists.) Erica found out about a pep rally for Purdue’s final home game against Michigan State the Saturday morning of my trip and asked if I was interested. Of course I was! The marching band! Purdue Pete! The Twirlers! All my favorite things about college football in one place without actually watching the sport. So we joined the crowds at Slayter Hill to participate in the pep rally. We didn’t have to wait long for the band to come marching in.
Complete with the Golden Girl, the Girl in Black and the Silver Twins.
Once the band was in place, they treated us to several rousing songs.
Even Purdue Pete helped out with the World’s Largest Drum.
The twilers showed off their stuff.
And the Golden Silks (really, that is their name) waved their flags around.
The band performed Thriller, a very popular dance this year. Purdue Pete took center stage for it.
But what I discovered at my first ever pep rally is that the people to really watch are the ones playing the cymbals. They were the best!
They even got lower than the cheerleaders during that popular Low, low, low… club song.
And Erica got an awesome picture of one of them flipping. Yep, the cymbal crashers. Who knew they were so athletic?
This particular pep rally was the senior show since it was the last home game of the season, so at the end of the performance, they had all the parents of the senior band members stand by their kids while they played Hail Purdue.
I will admit that I shed a tear or two. I’m a sap for the sentimental.
On our way back to the car, we saw plenty of examples of another game day tradition that I never participated in, the Breakfast Club. It has a dim resemblance to Frenchman Street here in New Orleans on Halloween. Just a few costumes we saw around campus.
Perhaps if I had attended pep rallies, breakfast club, sporting events, or any event really, I might have felt more school spirit while I was at Purdue. Then again, school spirit might just be like so many other things in my life – something I appreciate more when colored with nostalgia.