Remember when you were in high school? Errr. Yea. Neither do we.
It seems, though, that Homecoming was a lot cooler in high school. You got to see all your friends from older grades, and some tool’s parents always left town (usually some head on the football team, or friends with the football team) and there was always some big party. A bunch of people drank too much and got sick in the kid’s toilet, probably with Nelly playing in the backgroud. Wait, Blink 182. Yea.
Usually, Homecoming after-parties also involved someone’s face getting written on in marker after they passed out.
Our personal favorite: “[Insert Person’s Name Here] F*cks Sheep.” That’s original.
Fast forward two or three years, and you’re here. Homecoming is Oct. 6, and all your older friends will return to see each other, and their younger friends. Actually, no they won’t. The only kids that ever come back are the SFSers, because they can’t get real jobs.
Anyhoo, for those of ya who don’t know, Homecoming has become an excuse to drink a lot. Most people come out to Homecoming in vain efforts to booze, and a small percentage come out because they think it’s the right thing to do, to present this entire notion of “school spirit” or “HOYA SAXA!” or whatever. Even a smaller percentage come out because they care of our Patriot League standing, or Karin Ostrander’s career as a collegian. A bunch of faculty put on hats that don’t fit and cheer for “the movement of the ball.” It’s called “a down.” Not that hard.
Last year for Homecoming, we played Butler. The Butler … uh … Butts. Yea. It’s in Indiana, and Antwan Randle-El doesn’t go there. That’s all you need to know, except for the fact that we beat them 57-56 in a nail-biter reminiscent of Georgetown-Gallaudet in 1905. (Yes, we really played ‘em.)
Yet, you turned around as the roars from the bacchanalia of Lot T drowned out the football “fans,” and to your dismay you saw about half of the student body, including all of Village C West, guzzling beer out of the back of pickup trucks. There were funnels.
The thing is, the game was good. It was probably the most exciting game played by the Hoyas all season, and the amount of people who cared about the action in the 100 yards could be counted on the fingers of one hand. So you finally get a good game, and instead of watching it, you catch 30 packs thrown through the air by the lacrosse team. Or you show up to “see people,” cheer for a few plays and leave.
Here’s the challenge to all of you: alumni, students, administrators alike. Show up to Homecoming and sit there. Well, no, don’t sit there. Scream and cheer your head off, as if tomorrow isn’t gonna come. Homecoming is created at schools to bring together generations present and generations past behind one thing: a school they all attended and theoretically loved.
Show that you’re playing your part. We’re running this article one whole issue before Homecoming to encourage everyone to get ready. We could run it next week, but you’d probably already have plans to get “friggin’ wasted” in Lot T with “your boys.”
