About cheering.....

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We went to the Chief's home opener. 9/11 (cryptic) The Chief's had a fumble on the opening kick-off and gave up a touchdown two plays later.  The game (and possibly the the season) was for all intent and purposes, over.

Before the game there were flags and screaming and a monstrous flag, and fighter plane fly overs and David Cook and fireworks. There was a lot of noise. Then adversity happened immediately and the place almost went silent.  Then there was booing and drunken cussing.

In Wesley's football game tonight there were about  40 people on our side of the field and 5 people for the other team (from Topeka).  We were down, and the boys had made mistakes. At the half our team jogged off the field with their heads down. I noticed that the other team's coach was the loudest voice on the field.

Well I just wasn't going to tolerate that in the 2nd half.

When our boys hit the field after 1/2 time I started "bellarin'"  I have a piercing, loud, and utterly obnoxious voice (if you've ever heard me sing, you know what I mean.)  and I started cranking out, "LET'S GO BLUE!"

I was the only one yelling.  And it was ridiculously loud. So loud that other people in the park started cranking their necks "Was that a wounded moose I heard?"

I was there to have fun and I mostly don't care about embarrassing myself, so I launched into a tirade. "KNUCKLE UP BLUE! GO GET SOME BLUE! CRACK SKULLS BLUE!" And other assorted innane blatherings.

Between the two sets of bleachers on the home side is the press box. On the other side was 10 or so of the Varsity Players.  When I started in they were right there with me.  So I started trash talking with them about their "Spirit."  "YOU CALL THAT HOLLERIN' BOYS? YOUR MOMMAS WHO ARE SITTIN BEHIND YOU ARE CRANKIN' OUT MORE SOUND THAN YOU! I'M ONE OLD MAN AND I'M SPEWIN' OUT MORE DECIBLES THAN ALL-YA'ALL (the plural of, "Ya'all") PUT TOGETHER!"

They loved it and they turned it up. Then the home school moms turned it up. Then every one started in.  Pretty soon we went from down two scores to up one.

In the end the "Cair Paravel Lions" from Topeka won the day, but it was close, not the blow-out it looked like it would turn in to.  As our team came off the field we made a human tunnel for them to run through. Everyone got into the act, even the coaches.  It was fun.

Our team had lost "courage." So we "encouraged" or built up their courage, even through adversity.

Sometimes being loud is good.

chris