My most prominent memory of high school had to have been the fall of my sophomore year. It was a Friday, and I was sitting in Spanish class when a cheerleader sitting next to me threw a fit to get my attention, just to tell me: “Ya’ll are gonna lose tonight’ cause ya’ll suck.”
Well I’m glad you’re doing your job, sweetheart (in retrospect, we did go 2-8 that year).
The point I’m trying to make here is that school spirit has become a dying institution. Everywhere around TJC, I see an ocean of t-shirts and hoodies representing where students want to go after they force themselves to “endure” two years of TJC. Here’s a fun piece of information: when you finally do get to be an upperclassmen at a 4-year university, the most significant differences are that you will now have to pay extensive amounts of money to attend athletic events, tuition is more expensive, classes are typically more difficult due to size and lack of attention from professors who are more motivated by money than teaching, and the chances of getting a good parking spot are lower than the probability of Charlie Sheen getting hired by Disney. So enjoy Tyler Junior College while you can!
All I hear these days are derogatory comments and smirks directed at coaches and players who represent the people who put them down proudly. If you really knew more about coaching than the coaches you constantly ridicule, wouldn’t you have their job? I’m tired of all these Madden fanatics who have never played a snap of football in their lives criticizing coaches for losing games. We need to keep the comments to ourselves, and let the professionals do their job.
Here’s my solution: everybody needs to sit down at their computer and Google search pictures of Oakland Raider fans. Those guys would sell their souls for season tickets (even though they’re probably not that hard to get). That program has experienced every brand of disappointment ever since they traded Randy Moss for some paper clips and a piece of string, but nevertheless they continue to support their team with an undying, explosive and by all means vulgar passion. Which brings me to my next point, the Apache Renegades.
I would like to begin by saying: all hail the Apache Renegades! I don’t think I’ve ever felt as much emotion from watching sports than the TJC vs. Cisco football game, and I credit the band and the Renegades for triggering it. I mean, holy (expletive deleted)-I nearly cried out of excitement, and I’m a big, grizzly man who never cries. That kind of persistence and spirit is what pushes teams like Appalachian State to beat Division I programs such as Michigan, and if we presented that kind of passion and rowdiness at every athletic event, TJC would become the 8th man-made wonder of the world.
I would like to conclude by encouraging everyone to adopt the principles of the Renegades. Attend every game possible, where your black and gold with pride, and for crying out loud make some noise! It’s sports; nobody’s going to judge you.
