First-Year Student Journals : Leila : Journal 3

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The Football Phenomenon

Our blood has cooled. The OU vs. UT football game has passed with a definitive victory…for OU.

But the OU/UT weekend is more than just the game. The ultimate tally transcends the digital scoreboard numbers.

The events leading up to OU/UT weekend and those immediately thereafter are a compilation of either victories or losses. The one who makes it round trip, Austin to Dallas, in one piece, and has tales to reflect on and laugh about, is the ultimate victor.

Round One. Attaining a ticket.

Round requirements: Three hours to draw a wristband in a lottery to determine your eligibility for tickets. This year the number was 36,001. The further you get from that number, the further you get from claiming your ticket. My number: 36,130. That is worth 36,131 bonus points in this game.

Round Two. Finding six friends.

Round requirements: Finding six friends and six UT IDs that have the UT sports package on the account. The six friends are not the problem. Everyone wants to go and once one has tickets, friends quickly multiply. But the IDs are another issue. You definitely lose 100 points if you wait an additional three hours in line to claim your six tickets only to discover that one of your friend’s IDs does not have the sports package on it and you can only claim five tickets (Side note: each ticket costs $75. That is what the students pay. The going price for a ticket after sellout can vary from $100 to $450 or more depending on location of seats. Thus, even the loss of one ticket is a financial blunder.) It all boils down to thinking ahead and planning. (This stratagem applies beautifully to many aspects of life.)

Round Three. Transportation.

100 bonus points if you have enough cars to transport your group to the desired location. Additional points if one or more in your group lives in Dallas and can provide soft couches and/or beds for the party of six or more.

Round Four. The most daunting of all…traffic.

5,000+ students, anxious to get to Dallas, plus your usual Austin and Dallas rush hour equals a long ride. The most grotesque anecdote I had heard was that it could take up to seven hours one-way. To counter this major obstacle, we planned to depart Austin at 5 a.m., Saturday. At first the scheme seemed brilliant. No other college student would ever concoct such a horrifying idea and thus we would be the lone riders on the easy road to Dallas. But as Friday afternoon sank in, we took a gamble, said, “so be it traffic. Let it rear its ugly head,” and departed at 6 p.m. on Friday. No traffic whatsoever. Alleluia. God is good.

Once you have made it this far, the rest is cake. The Cotton Bowl rests in the middle of the famous Texas State Fair, so if football won’t entertain you for four hours, perhaps fried Snickers bars and the Ferris wheel might. Dallas busts at the seams with energy and the colossal collage of red and burnt orange paint a handsome autumn picture.

Despite the 65-13 crush, I still feel that I, as a Longhorn, came out victorious. Those football players were playing hard and gave it the good college effort and it is an effort worth celebrating.

The energy that is poured into football here at UT highlights a bizarre inkling that is unique to human nature (or so it seems). Humans love to be excited. We crave something that will perplex us and draw us in, something to believe in, something to excite us for a moment, or for the rest of our lives. And thus “the passion” is born. Passions can unite a group of minds or divide them, make the earth go round or stop it in its tracks. One person’s fervor can change the world.

I think this is why football, particularly the OU/UT weekend is such a grand production. It’s a chance for people to cheer together and pour their excitement in one definite direction, what I call the “Football Phenomenon.” I joined the resident Castilian flag football team to try and peer into America’s bizarre obsession with football (on a global scale, our obsession with sports) and I conclude that one of the reasons it creates such an immense following is because we all know how to talk about it with others and be on the same page. Few things are so simple that every person, regardless of background or experience, can have a comprehensive understanding of it. (Well, the male race may be a little more fluent in sports talk, but women have quickly caught on to the lingo.) Furthermore, football is already there, already established and thought out and nestled snugly in UT tradition, in American tradition for that matter. Perhaps that is why it is so hard to rally people for principles like love or peace. These issues are deep and complex and thus it’s so difficult to get everyone on the same page, working toward one goal that excites them, which they can all envision and believe in.

Picking our revolutions is a difficult task. The best revolutions ultimately fortify truth and beauty and build a more humane body of people.

I have an itch. I feel like the world is not the best it can be. It feels like there should be a revolution. But in what, I don’t know. There are so many stances, so many perspectives, and it seems like there are a thousand different truths. And in the first place I can’t seem to pinpoint the problem or the heart of the matter.

Oh wait. Of course. At the heart of anything great there stands one thing.

Rock n’ Roll. That is where our revolution lies. That is what this earth needs, a little more rock, a little more soul. But then what…? For all answers to the universe and thereafter, attend “School of Rock.” Jack Black is recorded as a white knight in my book.

You want to know why I really decided to attend UT…because its uniting signal is the “rock on” symbol. This is the School of Rock.

So whatever it may be that excites you; football, yo-yos, or the quest for Atlantis, the lost city, take it by the horns and rock things up.



	Leila \| Profile \| Reflections \| Journals: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Home
	The Football Phenomenon Our blood has cooled. The OU vs. UT football game has passed with a definitive victory…for OU. But the OU/UT weekend is more than just the game. The ultimate tally transcends the digital scoreboard numbers. The events leading up to OU/UT weekend and those immediately thereafter are a compilation of either victories or losses. The one who makes it round trip, Austin to Dallas, in one piece, and has tales to reflect on and laugh about, is the ultimate victor. Round One. Attaining a ticket. Round requirements: Three hours to draw a wristband in a lottery to determine your eligibility for tickets. This year the number was 36,001. The further you get from that number, the further you get from claiming your ticket. My number: 36,130. That is worth 36,131 bonus points in this game. Round Two. Finding six friends. Round requirements: Finding six friends and six UT IDs that have the UT sports package on the account. The six friends are not the problem. Everyone wants to go and once one has tickets, friends quickly multiply. But the IDs are another issue. You definitely lose 100 points if you wait an additional three hours in line to claim your six tickets only to discover that one of your friend’s IDs does not have the sports package on it and you can only claim five tickets (Side note: each ticket costs $75. That is what the students pay. The going price for a ticket after sellout can vary from $100 to $450 or more depending on location of seats. Thus, even the loss of one ticket is a financial blunder.) It all boils down to thinking ahead and planning. (This stratagem applies beautifully to many aspects of life.) Round Three. Transportation. 100 bonus points if you have enough cars to transport your group to the desired location. Additional points if one or more in your group lives in Dallas and can provide soft couches and/or beds for the party of six or more. Round Four. The most daunting of all…traffic. 5,000+ students, anxious to get to Dallas, plus your usual Austin and Dallas rush hour equals a long ride. The most grotesque anecdote I had heard was that it could take up to seven hours one-way. To counter this major obstacle, we planned to depart Austin at 5 a.m., Saturday. At first the scheme seemed brilliant. No other college student would ever concoct such a horrifying idea and thus we would be the lone riders on the easy road to Dallas. But as Friday afternoon sank in, we took a gamble, said, “so be it traffic. Let it rear its ugly head,” and departed at 6 p.m. on Friday. No traffic whatsoever. Alleluia. God is good. Once you have made it this far, the rest is cake. The Cotton Bowl rests in the middle of the famous Texas State Fair, so if football won’t entertain you for four hours, perhaps fried Snickers bars and the Ferris wheel might. Dallas busts at the seams with energy and the colossal collage of red and burnt orange paint a handsome autumn picture. Despite the 65-13 crush, I still feel that I, as a Longhorn, came out victorious. Those football players were playing hard and gave it the good college effort and it is an effort worth celebrating. The energy that is poured into football here at UT highlights a bizarre inkling that is unique to human nature (or so it seems). Humans love to be excited. We crave something that will perplex us and draw us in, something to believe in, something to excite us for a moment, or for the rest of our lives. And thus “the passion” is born. Passions can unite a group of minds or divide them, make the earth go round or stop it in its tracks. One person’s fervor can change the world. I think this is why football, particularly the OU/UT weekend is such a grand production. It’s a chance for people to cheer together and pour their excitement in one definite direction, what I call the “Football Phenomenon.” I joined the resident Castilian flag football team to try and peer into America’s bizarre obsession with football (on a global scale, our obsession with sports) and I conclude that one of the reasons it creates such an immense following is because we all know how to talk about it with others and be on the same page. Few things are so simple that every person, regardless of background or experience, can have a comprehensive understanding of it. (Well, the male race may be a little more fluent in sports talk, but women have quickly caught on to the lingo.) Furthermore, football is already there, already established and thought out and nestled snugly in UT tradition, in American tradition for that matter. Perhaps that is why it is so hard to rally people for principles like love or peace. These issues are deep and complex and thus it’s so difficult to get everyone on the same page, working toward one goal that excites them, which they can all envision and believe in. Picking our revolutions is a difficult task. The best revolutions ultimately fortify truth and beauty and build a more humane body of people. I have an itch. I feel like the world is not the best it can be. It feels like there should be a revolution. But in what, I don’t know. There are so many stances, so many perspectives, and it seems like there are a thousand different truths. And in the first place I can’t seem to pinpoint the problem or the heart of the matter. Oh wait. Of course. At the heart of anything great there stands one thing. Rock n’ Roll. That is where our revolution lies. That is what this earth needs, a little more rock, a little more soul. But then what…? For all answers to the universe and thereafter, attend “School of Rock.” Jack Black is recorded as a white knight in my book. You want to know why I really decided to attend UT…because its uniting signal is the “rock on” symbol. This is the School of Rock. So whatever it may be that excites you; football, yo-yos, or the quest for Atlantis, the lost city, take it by the horns and rock things up.