Blogging a Band Geek's First Football Game

We love your school spirit, meganpikalvr12! –Sparkitors

Most of you know that the best part of a high school football game is the halftime show. Not because you get to stock up at the concessions stand, but because halftime is when the marching band does its thing! I just performed in my first football game, and I’ve decided that game time is more fun for us band kids than for anyone else. While the fans and the players are wasting their time wanting to kill the other team, we’re just having fun with the “rival” marching band, because all band kids are part of one big, geeky family. Here’s how the game went for a marching-band rookie:

3:50 p.m.: Fifteen minutes after the bell rings, I meet up with a friend to walk to a local diner off campus. Most of us band kids go to one of three places: Bellacino’s, Blue Collar Joe’s, or Bahama Sno Shack. Anyone going to Bellacino’s has to dodge across a highway without getting run over, which seems like a high price to pay for a slice of pizza. We stick with ice cream and a donut at Blue Collar Joe’s before heading back to school.

4:20 p.m.: After talking to my fellow band geeks in the hall, I retrieve my flute and music from the band room and take them with me to relax for a while in the senior courtyard. (Don't tell the seniors!)

4:40 p.m.: I go back inside to practice with the other flutes, then follow everyone to the tailgate party, where I pile hamburgers, chips, and cookies on top of the doughnut I’ve just eaten. Because nothing’s better for nerves than a pile of greasy food! Or watching your friend's unattended cheeseburger getting taken over by ants.

5:10 p.m.: We take our instruments out to the practice field, where we go over the Star Spangled Banner and our fight song.

6:30 p.m.: The “rival” band arrives, and, after practicing the Star Spangled Banner together, we’re allowed to socialize across enemy lines. Hooray, brotherhood of band geeks!

7 p.m.: Spectators have been trickling in for the last hour, and now the stands are full of people cheering and waiting for the marching band to play. Well, it’s possible that some of them are actually waiting for the game to start.

2nd quarter: The game is 0-9, bad guys. Perhaps a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner will inspire our team to victory?

10 minutes till the end of the 2nd quarter: The other band has challenged us to a “Noise-off” to see who can play loudest, but the drum major shuts down the competition. We need to pull it together for HALFTIME!

Halftime: Time to perform! We have to head out early because the student section is getting too wild. Yes, the marching band doubles as crowd control—and they don’t even provide us with riot gear. We play just two songs and call it a night. With nothing left to be nervous about, we head to the baseball field for a cookie break.

4th quarter: The score is 6-15. We celebrate our team’s measly 6 points by cheering and busting out ridiculous dance moves.

End of the game: Though our team lost, the marching band did what it came to do: kick fight-song butt, and eat cookies. We put away our instruments and recall how stupid we looked dancing in the stands. It was awesome.

What’s the best part of a high school football game, halftime or tailgating? You can also blow our minds and say it’s the football part.

Related post: A Day in the Life at Drum Major Camp

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