football

We Got Spirit (yeah, yeah)

Posted on by katie

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.

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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.

Signage

Posted on by katie

fighting wave!

We made the signs, but unfortunately we chose the entrance with the strict security that wouldn’t let us bring them in. Boo! I’m sure if our signs had been allowed, the whole outcome of the game would have been different.

Go Green Wave!

Posted on by katie

tulane football action

When Mike offered me a ticket to the opening Tulane football game, I found myself saying yes. Why not? The ticket was free and it’s where all the cool kids were going to be that night. And it meant I finally got to see the inside of the Superdome. Plus, it might surprise my friends back home to learn that I’ve actually grown to like football. It all started with Friday Night Lights, where the relationship parts made the football parts watchable. But then I would watch some college games last fall, ending with the Utes at the Sugar Bowl (and I actually watched the whole game by myself on tv because I wanted to), and Mike would explain the game to me now so that I finally understand what a first down is and that’s made the whole game much more interesting. So we headed with a few hundred other fans to the Tulane v. Tulsa game. Here’s the Superdome:

Superdome!

It’s massive!! And oddly pretty in a way. It reminds me (and I’m sure many others) of a spaceship.

spaceship or superdome?

Unless you happen to see the Cake Wrecks version of the Superdome, which just looks strange.

cakewrecks_Dana W

As massive as it was on the outside, though, it seems even bigger inside. Which is good because there are so many fans to fill the seats.

true fan, but empty seats

But surely, those are just the old folks who like to sit away from the crowds (like us)? Let’s take a look at the student section.

student section

A decent showing! (Mike said that’s the most students you will see.) So Tulane’s not a football school, but it still had its share of opening game fanfare.

go green wave!

And the lack of people meant that we had great seats where I could really see the action.

football action

We even got a field goal!

field goal!

I have to admit, sometimes we weren’t paying too close of attention. Peter played with his cars, girl car and racecar.

girl car and racecar

Penny played with her toy.

penny's toy

Mike tossed Peter,

peter toss

and Amanda tossed Penny.

penny toss

While I took pictures (and played fuzzle).

wearing green

fuzzle

Some random guy started watching the crowd instead of the game.

spectator sport

But half time got us all excited again. They played a song from The Who’s Tommy, including pinballs!

The Who's Tommy

After the half, Tulane finally got a touchdown, and most of the crowd left, including us. But I’ll be back. In fact, I’ll be back next week when Tulane takes on BYU. I’ve got some posters to make before then, though. I’m thinking, “Your mom’s a cougar!”