Monday, November 01, 2004
Hail the Aggies
I had a fairly action-packed weekend. I don't know where to begin! I guess I'll start on Saturday, which is kind of where my last entry left off...
I got up a little earlier than I would have liked for a Saturday - my one day to sleep in - but it wasn't so bad. Rehearsal started promptly at 10:00. By the end of it I had (pretty much) learned all of my spots for the show...ish. Enough to not get lost, anyway. We ended about a half an hour early, which was nice, and I had a good four hours before I had to go back for the game. (I used part of this time to write my last entry. See? It all connects.)
I intentionally avoided eating right after rehearsal because I knew I wouldn't be hungry again by 3:30, the latest I could eat lunch and not be late for the game. I figured if I ate come Cheezits and some carrot sticks it'd carry me over until an early dinner. Well, I went a little overboard with the Cheezits and carrots and as a result I wasn't hungry enough at 3:30 to remember that I was supposed to eat a meal. Whoops. So from 4 until midnight I survived on water and half of a hot dog (they give the band all the leftover hot dogs that they couldn't sell, at no cost). That was fun.
Okay, now I have to tell you about the game. Let me preface this by saying that anyone who says that division 1AA (as opposed to the only division above this, 1A) isn't any good has never been to a Cal Poly - UC Davis game. This was the single most exciting sporting even that I've ever been to, including that one basketball game at RB when we won the game with a shot from half-court at the buzzer. Seriously, I was almost in tears because I was so excited. So here's the cliff's notes of the game: Davis scored first with a touchdown in the first quarter; Cal Poly responded with a touchdown of their own on their next drive. 7-7. Not much happened between then and when the band left to go warm up, with about 7 minutes left in the first half. After we left Davis somehow scored two touchdowns. I don't know how or why, but they did. 21-7 to end the half. (Insert awesome halftime show here. I didn't get lost!) Early in the third quarter, Cal Poly scored twin touchdowns to tie the score at 21. We almost scored a third touchdown but Davis managed to keep us to only a field goal. But hey, we were in the lead for the first time that night, 21-24, and we had momentum. Davis, unfortunately, scored another touchdown, bringing the score to 28-24. Not to be outdone, Cal Poly again scored a touchdown. Davis, however, blocked the point after. Score: 28-30. By now were getting to late in the fourth quarter. Cal Poly has the lead, but Davis can beat us with only a field goal. Tension builds. We kick off to Davis, and they work their way up to within five yards of the Mustangs' endzone. Davis runs the ball, and the runner breaks through the Poly defense. The band happens to sit behind that endzone, and I saw the runner come within steps of snatching victory from Poly. But somewhere about six inches from the endzone, the Davis runner fumbles the ball. And who should recover it in the endzone? Cal Poly. I'm not even going to bother to try to describe to you how exciting that was. And with that ball, Cal Poly made it all the way to the other end of the field to kick a field goal. Not it's 28-33, and Davis needs a touchdown to win. And there's about a minute and a half left. Davis could have done it, but Poly stopped them short. Davis kicked off to Poly. And at this point we knew we had won. All we had to do was run the clock down; three knees and a punt would win it. But Cal Poly decided to run the ball, and they couldn't pull off a first down. Kickoff to Davis. Now there's about 30 or 45 seconds left, and Davis is about 80 yards away from the endzone. Poly's still got it. Davis attempts to throw a long bomb, but no such luck. Davis again attempts to throw a bomb, and this time, it's caught. But not by Davis. The crowd went insane; we had won the game all over again. But then came the ref's yellow flag: pass interference. For those of you unfamiliar with football, if the defense interferes with the receiver before he catches the ball, the defense automatically gets the ball where the interference occurred. As it was a long bomb that had been thrown, Davis got the ball at about the twenty. And long story short, Davis scores the game-winning touchdown, tossing the ball to a receiver standing all alone in the endzone, with not a defensive player within ten yards of him. Pitiful. So, as I said, hail the Aggies. Cal Poly actually did have a few seconds left to come back, and I can't even imagine what it would have been like if they had. But I'll never know. Davis won 36-33. But I still maintain that it was the best football game ever. And I have no problem getting beaten by Davis. I love Davis (and Stacie!). A lot of people there were taking the friendly rival thing a bit too far, with shouts of "F--- you Davis," but I look at them as the team I'd like to win if we don't. So it was all fun. And hey, I got a free hotdog (or half of one, at least).
From the game we Georged over to Mott Gym for the band-off. Davis arrived a few minutes later, and we were soon exchanging songs back and forth. I was quite impressed with the marching "banda," as apparently they're called. They had quite a bit of impressive choreography, although some of it was quite repetitive. But it was fun because every so often a section would march across the gym floor and through our band, trying to be intimidating. So of course Poly does the same thing...whatever. It was fun! Tyson, who plays sax in our band, showed them up with some impressive improv dance moves, including the moonwalk and the worm. Oh, and I saw Kate Baker, who graduated from RB a couple of years before I did. Long story short (again), we called it a draw because everyone was anxious to go to the big party thrown by the Poly trumpets to get completely drunk. (I, actually, was anxious to drink a few bottles of water and then go to bed.) So there you have it. An interesting aside: Davis had 15 trumpets; I was the 16th trumpet to join the Mustang Band. Boo ya.
After the band-off I was changed out of uniform and all ready to go straight to sleep. But I'm in college, and in college everyone has to be doing something all the time. All the time. Ben, Courtney, and company wanted to go watch movies at Ben's. I was completely exhausted, and I very much did not want to go watch movies with them. But they tend to say that I'm antisocial (as Jenna might say, they "kid on the square") so I went. I try to leave my comfort zone every now and then while I'm here in college, but I don't know where I should draw the line. I was severely opposed to doing anything other than sleeping, but peer pressure won over. I don't know at what point I'm allowed to say, "I'm Josh Parker, there are just some times when I don't want to do stuff with anyone, and right now I just want to go to sleep," because when I do that I feel guilty. Is that right? Am I supposed to kill myself trying new things, or is it all right to sit by myself in my room and watch a movie because that's exactly what I feel like doing? I really don't know what the right answer is.
That said, on Sunday I spent the day lounging around and doing nothing in particular by myself. And you know what? It felt good. Kevin was down in the main lobby with some of his architecture buddies doing homework, so I had the room to myself for pretty much the entire day. And I enjoyed every last second of it. I need down time. I'm Josh Parker, and there are some times when I don't want to do stuff with anyone.
As for today, nothing much out of the ordinary went on. Wind orchestra was infuriating, though. Our concert is on Saturday night, and J is extra picky about things now. He told us he's "raised the bar." I'm all for setting higher standards - I'm used to it coming from RB. But raising the bar needs to be a slow and steady process. Last week everything was fine, and now this week everything is "absolutely horrible." And those of you in band know what those rehearsals are like when you can't play more than ten seconds without stopping for another comment. I'm still enjoying band - don't get me wrong - but tonight's rehearsal simply refused to end.
And now I'm here writing. I've been at this for an hour, which tends to happen when I put off writing for as long as I have. Oh well, I got the bulk of it out tonight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sleep now.
Cheers,
Josh
mood: somewhat stressed, not about academics, but about how I handle all the peer pressure...
music: why do I even bother with this one? none, of course.
location: same deal with this one: dorm
PS- I thought this was funny...
Rejected Sports Team Names:
Brussels Sprouts
Cannes Openers
Amsterdam Yankees
Vienna Sausages
Belgium Waffles
Manila Folders
Czech Bouncers
New Dehli Catessans
Buenos Airheads
Guadalajara Krishnas
Iraqi Raccoons
Bolivia DeHavillands
Seoul Brothers
Taipei Personalities
Syria Killers
Hungary Jacks
Dublin Mint Twins
Prague Tologists
Peking Toms
I got up a little earlier than I would have liked for a Saturday - my one day to sleep in - but it wasn't so bad. Rehearsal started promptly at 10:00. By the end of it I had (pretty much) learned all of my spots for the show...ish. Enough to not get lost, anyway. We ended about a half an hour early, which was nice, and I had a good four hours before I had to go back for the game. (I used part of this time to write my last entry. See? It all connects.)
I intentionally avoided eating right after rehearsal because I knew I wouldn't be hungry again by 3:30, the latest I could eat lunch and not be late for the game. I figured if I ate come Cheezits and some carrot sticks it'd carry me over until an early dinner. Well, I went a little overboard with the Cheezits and carrots and as a result I wasn't hungry enough at 3:30 to remember that I was supposed to eat a meal. Whoops. So from 4 until midnight I survived on water and half of a hot dog (they give the band all the leftover hot dogs that they couldn't sell, at no cost). That was fun.
Okay, now I have to tell you about the game. Let me preface this by saying that anyone who says that division 1AA (as opposed to the only division above this, 1A) isn't any good has never been to a Cal Poly - UC Davis game. This was the single most exciting sporting even that I've ever been to, including that one basketball game at RB when we won the game with a shot from half-court at the buzzer. Seriously, I was almost in tears because I was so excited. So here's the cliff's notes of the game: Davis scored first with a touchdown in the first quarter; Cal Poly responded with a touchdown of their own on their next drive. 7-7. Not much happened between then and when the band left to go warm up, with about 7 minutes left in the first half. After we left Davis somehow scored two touchdowns. I don't know how or why, but they did. 21-7 to end the half. (Insert awesome halftime show here. I didn't get lost!) Early in the third quarter, Cal Poly scored twin touchdowns to tie the score at 21. We almost scored a third touchdown but Davis managed to keep us to only a field goal. But hey, we were in the lead for the first time that night, 21-24, and we had momentum. Davis, unfortunately, scored another touchdown, bringing the score to 28-24. Not to be outdone, Cal Poly again scored a touchdown. Davis, however, blocked the point after. Score: 28-30. By now were getting to late in the fourth quarter. Cal Poly has the lead, but Davis can beat us with only a field goal. Tension builds. We kick off to Davis, and they work their way up to within five yards of the Mustangs' endzone. Davis runs the ball, and the runner breaks through the Poly defense. The band happens to sit behind that endzone, and I saw the runner come within steps of snatching victory from Poly. But somewhere about six inches from the endzone, the Davis runner fumbles the ball. And who should recover it in the endzone? Cal Poly. I'm not even going to bother to try to describe to you how exciting that was. And with that ball, Cal Poly made it all the way to the other end of the field to kick a field goal. Not it's 28-33, and Davis needs a touchdown to win. And there's about a minute and a half left. Davis could have done it, but Poly stopped them short. Davis kicked off to Poly. And at this point we knew we had won. All we had to do was run the clock down; three knees and a punt would win it. But Cal Poly decided to run the ball, and they couldn't pull off a first down. Kickoff to Davis. Now there's about 30 or 45 seconds left, and Davis is about 80 yards away from the endzone. Poly's still got it. Davis attempts to throw a long bomb, but no such luck. Davis again attempts to throw a bomb, and this time, it's caught. But not by Davis. The crowd went insane; we had won the game all over again. But then came the ref's yellow flag: pass interference. For those of you unfamiliar with football, if the defense interferes with the receiver before he catches the ball, the defense automatically gets the ball where the interference occurred. As it was a long bomb that had been thrown, Davis got the ball at about the twenty. And long story short, Davis scores the game-winning touchdown, tossing the ball to a receiver standing all alone in the endzone, with not a defensive player within ten yards of him. Pitiful. So, as I said, hail the Aggies. Cal Poly actually did have a few seconds left to come back, and I can't even imagine what it would have been like if they had. But I'll never know. Davis won 36-33. But I still maintain that it was the best football game ever. And I have no problem getting beaten by Davis. I love Davis (and Stacie!). A lot of people there were taking the friendly rival thing a bit too far, with shouts of "F--- you Davis," but I look at them as the team I'd like to win if we don't. So it was all fun. And hey, I got a free hotdog (or half of one, at least).
From the game we Georged over to Mott Gym for the band-off. Davis arrived a few minutes later, and we were soon exchanging songs back and forth. I was quite impressed with the marching "banda," as apparently they're called. They had quite a bit of impressive choreography, although some of it was quite repetitive. But it was fun because every so often a section would march across the gym floor and through our band, trying to be intimidating. So of course Poly does the same thing...whatever. It was fun! Tyson, who plays sax in our band, showed them up with some impressive improv dance moves, including the moonwalk and the worm. Oh, and I saw Kate Baker, who graduated from RB a couple of years before I did. Long story short (again), we called it a draw because everyone was anxious to go to the big party thrown by the Poly trumpets to get completely drunk. (I, actually, was anxious to drink a few bottles of water and then go to bed.) So there you have it. An interesting aside: Davis had 15 trumpets; I was the 16th trumpet to join the Mustang Band. Boo ya.
After the band-off I was changed out of uniform and all ready to go straight to sleep. But I'm in college, and in college everyone has to be doing something all the time. All the time. Ben, Courtney, and company wanted to go watch movies at Ben's. I was completely exhausted, and I very much did not want to go watch movies with them. But they tend to say that I'm antisocial (as Jenna might say, they "kid on the square") so I went. I try to leave my comfort zone every now and then while I'm here in college, but I don't know where I should draw the line. I was severely opposed to doing anything other than sleeping, but peer pressure won over. I don't know at what point I'm allowed to say, "I'm Josh Parker, there are just some times when I don't want to do stuff with anyone, and right now I just want to go to sleep," because when I do that I feel guilty. Is that right? Am I supposed to kill myself trying new things, or is it all right to sit by myself in my room and watch a movie because that's exactly what I feel like doing? I really don't know what the right answer is.
That said, on Sunday I spent the day lounging around and doing nothing in particular by myself. And you know what? It felt good. Kevin was down in the main lobby with some of his architecture buddies doing homework, so I had the room to myself for pretty much the entire day. And I enjoyed every last second of it. I need down time. I'm Josh Parker, and there are some times when I don't want to do stuff with anyone.
As for today, nothing much out of the ordinary went on. Wind orchestra was infuriating, though. Our concert is on Saturday night, and J is extra picky about things now. He told us he's "raised the bar." I'm all for setting higher standards - I'm used to it coming from RB. But raising the bar needs to be a slow and steady process. Last week everything was fine, and now this week everything is "absolutely horrible." And those of you in band know what those rehearsals are like when you can't play more than ten seconds without stopping for another comment. I'm still enjoying band - don't get me wrong - but tonight's rehearsal simply refused to end.
And now I'm here writing. I've been at this for an hour, which tends to happen when I put off writing for as long as I have. Oh well, I got the bulk of it out tonight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sleep now.
Cheers,
Josh
mood: somewhat stressed, not about academics, but about how I handle all the peer pressure...
music: why do I even bother with this one? none, of course.
location: same deal with this one: dorm
PS- I thought this was funny...
Rejected Sports Team Names:
Brussels Sprouts
Cannes Openers
Amsterdam Yankees
Vienna Sausages
Belgium Waffles
Manila Folders
Czech Bouncers
New Dehli Catessans
Buenos Airheads
Guadalajara Krishnas
Iraqi Raccoons
Bolivia DeHavillands
Seoul Brothers
Taipei Personalities
Syria Killers
Hungary Jacks
Dublin Mint Twins
Prague Tologists
Peking Toms
