'till Gabriel blows his horn

I've never been to a big "sports" school. I'm currently enrolled at my 4th institution of higher learning, but this is the only one I've been to that actually has a football team. I'm not talking about a "decent" football team, just any team, in general. On top of that, I've never really felt much sporting school spirit. Most recently I was at Boston University, and most of y'all have heard the story about how I learned what the mascot was there. To fill you in, it goes something like this:

I was at my grandmother's house with my parents, we had arrived in separate cars, along with other family members. We were all standing in the street outside her driveway talking, and a neighbor I did not know said to the crowd "Who's the terrier?" I ignored him, as I didn't know what he was saying, it couldn't be directed at me. Again he starts speaking of some terrier. I go on ignoring him, walking closer to my car. At this point he comes up to me and asks directly "are you a terrier?" Um, ok - NO, I'm not. I starred back blankly, unsure of how to answer him. So he continued "Do you go to BU?" Ah, yes, I say proudly, yes I do. And he blinks and says, "So you're a terrier?" Hm, still unsure. So he points to the parking sticker on my car (with a picture of a dog on it) and says "BU, terriers, you go there?" I do, and now I understand why this dog is on my parking sticker. Supposedly it's the mascot. I recently told this story to a BU alum who lives in Austin and she laughed and said "You didn't know Rhett?" And I felt like I was back at square one, "excuse me, Rhett? I'm talking terrier's here!" Supposedly that dog is named Rhett.

Prior to that, I was at American University - we were the eagles. I know this because I have a pair of light blue shorts with the word Eagles written across the bum. And there was a statue somewhere of an Eagle. And, really, if you are going to call a school The American University, what else could the mascot possibly be? Before that I was a Clarkie. Through and through. But, was I a Cougar? I guess by default. We were the red and white blooded Cougars. The women's field hockey team (which I was not on) played in the outfield of the shitty baseball field that the men's baseball team (which I was not on) used. The men's lacrosse team (which I was not on) had the newest coach so they got the last pick for gym time and held practice at 1am. The gym floor was redone my freshman year, and thus we were no longer allowed to play sports on it. The basketball games had more band members than fans in attendance. You get the picture.

So last night, when I went to my first ever college sporting event, can you imagine how blown away I was at the basketball game I saw? I mean, forget the fact that HOARDS of people were heading there and scalpers were outside, and that ESPN was broadcasting the game. Forget the fact that there were 3 dance teams, cheerleaders, a mascot, a band, a pep squad. Forget the fact that standing ovations were given to two former football players as they walked in with their entourages. Forget that this was currently one of the biggest college basketball games this season. Well, no, don't forget those - those are all the reasons I was blown away.

If I thought that the longhorns around the city of Austin were plentiful, this was a whole new level. Burnt orange everywhere. Hell, Blue everywhere too. The fanfare was a bit ridiculous. I mean, chants and cheers and stomping and whooping. I sat quietly for about ten minutes, before I was yelling with the rest of them. Unclear what we were yelling "give 'em hell, give 'em hell, make 'em eat shit" seemed to be the local consensus. But there was also "FIGHT, TEXAS!" and of course, the eyes of Texas, sung after the star spangled banner, with a Texas State flag stretched across the court. As a friend pointed out, it didn't take me long to get into it (um, hello, do you not know me? were we concerned I'd NOT get into it?!) I was already decked out in my new t-shirt, and had the horns up for all the foul shots!

Beyond the shear amazement at the crowd and fans, it was a really good basketball game to watch as well. Not the ass-whoopin' some had hoped for (I'm going to be a longhorn for a while, please don't stop talking to me every time they win!), but a great ending for longhorn fans everywhere!

And today, I'm left suppressing the urge to make the Eyes of Texas my new ringtone. I've also already begun to look into getting student season tickets for football. Oh, and most importantly - The Sox are in DESPERATE need of a hand signal, it's really the only thing Red Sox Nation is missing. So, I'm on it!