Author: Kelly Neukom
Two weeks ago, when the Stanford football team beat USC (number one in the country), my twin sister Francie (a Stanford student) flipped out. If you don’t know, Stanford has had a lackluster team over the past few years. In fact, that’s putting it kindly. They pretty much suck. So you can imagine what it was like for them to beat a team so sure of their superiority.
“An impromptu bonfire started up in the Main Quad, with cheers of ‘Fuck SC!’ and ‘Cal’s next!'” she said. “A celebration was organized at the last minute to welcome home the football players’ buses at 12:30. They were hoping for a few hundred people to show up—instead, upwards of 2,000 fans showed up, and not just current students, but alumni and area residents. It was absolute madness.”
As excited as I was for her, this school-wide reaction to a football game was incredibly foreign to me. I remember going to a Stanford game against Arizona last year where the Cardinals scored a touchdown and they celebrated as if they had won the Rose Bowl 70-zip. They lost, of course—but that one touchdown gave them a greater pleasure than I had ever seen at a football game.
There’s a simple reason for my indifference, though: the Oxy community doesn’t need to wildly celebrate every football triumph because we are certain of our greatness. Sure, we cheer loudly for every touchdown or interception, but it is more of a formality than anything. We are never taken by surprise at an amazing play or annihilation of another team-we expect it. Whenever I miss a game, I think, “I wonder what happened at the football game? Oh well, I bet Oxy won.” I am usually right.
It sounds as though I am complacent about our incredible team; however, I am anything but. I am in love with the fact that I can always congratulate my friends on the football team with a smile and a “Great game!” I am pleased that my parents (both Stanford grads) have a team to root for that doesn’t let them down like their alma mater does. I am happy that our cheerleaders always have a reason to cheer.
Some people, however, consider this boring. One of my friends said, “You pretty much have to get drunk before a football game to make it interesting.” This incredibly long winning streak means there usually aren’t nail-biters or games where we come in from behind to win at the last second, everyone rushing the field like a bad high school sports movie. I tend to root for the underdog (my favorite baseball teams are the San Francisco Giants or anyone against the Yankees), so you would think I felt this way too.
But I don’t. True, football games may not raise my adrenaline or make me hold my breath for long periods of time, but for this I am glad. There is enough in life that is stressful or uncertain. Oxy’s football record doesn’t need to be added to the list. It’s nice to have something so comforting that I depend upon-rather like a security blanket for grown-ups. I studied abroad in England last semester and it was frustrating that I couldn’t brag about the team to my English friends (as most of them have never even laid eyes on a football).
As much as I envy my sister for the crazy blowout parties that happened the night of the USC game, I wouldn’t trade my team for hers for all of the kegs in the world. In order to have a surprise win, you have to have a pretty bad team that doesn’t usually come out on top. I wouldn’t want the depression she suffers as her hope is slowly crushed with each passing loss. Whenever she laments about Stanford, I tell her, “Start following Oxy football. It will make you a much happier person.”
Of this, I am certain.
Kelly Neukom is a senior ECLS major. She can be reached at kneukom@oxy.edu.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
