One of my earliest memories of a sports game was a field trip with my summer camp to see a minor league baseball game. I was probably in middle school then, and the only thing I remember from that trip was buying fried mac and cheese from the concessions stand.
Second earliest memory of a sports game? It’s a step up — a Patriots game. A family friend gifted us one game’s worth of their season tickets, which were about ten rows up on the 50-yard line (for those of you who know little about football, like me, that means it was a really good view).
We were always a “football family” growing up — that was the sport you could find playing on our TV whenever our team was playing — but I was never really involved. I was the one you could find claiming they only watched the Super Bowl for the commercials.
But I’ve always been a person who loves spirit. Whether it’s school spirit or camp spirit, I love it when you know everyone around you also loves where they’re at. So as soon as I chose BU, I knew I’d be going to the hockey games to find that environment.
BU hockey met my expectations in exactly the way I was hoping it would. Sitting in the student section in front of the pep band (though “sitting” is a loose term — we stand and cheer the whole game), there’s this incredible, overwhelming school spirit. We’re loud and feisty and, for once in my life, I care about the outcome of the game.
But do I go to the BU hockey games to watch the hockey? Not exactly. I don’t know much beyond the basics of the game (recently, my roommate and I have started googling the meanings of penalties when they happen). The energy and camaraderie of the student section makes me care, and whether we win the game totally affects the crowd’s mood as we filter out of the arena after the game.
I go for the spirit, for the energy, for the laughter and the shouting, and even the trash talk, and I leave each time loving the sport just a little bit more.
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