2008 Woodie Awards
SSU football missing in action
Jordan Buskirk
Issue date: 10/18/06 Section: Opinion
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My three favorite men's sports to watch in high school were football, water polo, and volleyball. Now in college, the highlight of my existence, I have the pleasure of attending none. So Saturday night comes, and where can I be found? In my living room watching season one of "Laguna Beach" with my friends, again. We believe it is about time to rethink what we are doing with our lives.
During the whole college application process and looking at schools, I tried to not let my friends influence me, or the fact that a school had a football team. But I cannot lie to myself. Friday night football games were the best memories I have had. It was a combination of good, old-fashioned fun with friends, and while bonding with other students and faculty who also had a love for the game and pride for their school. Sporting school colors, being rowdy, and forgetting about anything academically related filled my Friday nights. For four years I never missed a game, never had to plan a night out, never rethought the path my life was taking, and certainly never watched "Laguna Beach."
High school football was important and intense, but college ball is a big deal, as big as my father, Ron Burgandy. He was a USC alumnus, and still puts on his hat and sweatshirt in order to watch the games. Though I have inherited his pride for the Trojans, an empty feeling nonetheless floods my soul. Which team do I call my own? Which team would I faithfully watch in my mid-40s? I get to have no part. I have tons of spirit, energy, and pride, yet I do not have a team to root for. I cannot partake in discussions with my friends from other schools, because there isn't anything for me to say.
And it is not just football that I would love to fill my time with. I am also an adamant fan of volleyball, which I play, and water polo, a sport I wish I had learned. There are women's teams on campus that I am sure I would enjoy, but being a female myself, I like the occasional distraction from a men's game that a womens contest cannot offer me. After attending every football, water polo, and volleyball game possible, which is an incredibly hard habit to break, how am I going to make college the height of my educational career?
I am bitter because Rancho Cotate High School sits right behind the area I live--around the Zinfandel and Cabernet Villages. Every Friday night the band plays, the music bumps, and the crowds mingle, trying to hear each other over the announcer. There are the familiar sounds of whistles, shouts, cries, laughter, and practiced cheers. All I can think about are the memories I have created in that similar circumstance. Then, I become homesick. Instead of making new memories, meeting new people, I am stuck in purgatory, a.k.a. my room. That may be my own fault. I have been told that I have obtained the trait of tenacity. Yet college has sucked all the money out of me, making small trips to the bowling alley or go miniature golfing a struggle. So give me the sporting events that amplify my passions, those that enhance my happiness and keep me busy on Saturday nights.