Whoop!

I went to my first (and Kevin's second) Texas A&M football game this weekend - What an experience! Now, I haven't been to a large number of college games, but I'm pretty certain Aggie games are one-of-a-kind. Here are my highlights (my apologies to football fans who want sports-related highlights. Most of mine revolve around the band, I'm afraid!).

The student section (pictured above) is humongous! And all but three of them were wearing maroon (okay, that might be an exaggeration - but not by much!). And they never sit down. And they stayed the entire game - even the whole half-time show. They don't have cheerleaders - they have "Yell Leaders" - and the entire student section yells. Loud. In fact, the entire stadium links shoulders to sing a song every quarter. They yell "whoop" when the announcer says something favorable. There are also dozens of other traditions the Aggies observe. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Whenever the teams scores, the fans "score" (get to kiss their date). Kevin "scored" 16 times this evening. If you're doing the math, that's 56 points for the Aggies (don't forget extra points!).

2. This next tradition is a close second for me, and I think it was just in the section where we were sitting. The person sitting next to me passed a tupperware container full of fudge at the end of halftime - we had to eat a piece to bring the team good luck in the second half. Anything to support the team!

3. The band does this really amazing thing in which it marches to the end of the field, then each row does an about-face and marches back, turning the whole formation in on itself... Confused? Just watch:

So, so cool. Yes, I was a band geek in high school. A drum major, even.

4. At the end of the game, if the Aggies win, the Corp of Cadets (dressed in khaki uniform) tackle the Yell Leaders (fleeing in white uniform) and throw them in a fountain. Nice way to celebrate!

Lots of fun to go to a game together. Below is our attempt to get a picture of ourselves. Turns out the camera was on movie mode. So it's a movie of us at the stadium!