Simply amazing...
There's no other way to describe what happened today -- simply amazing. Easily, today (herein understood to mean Saturday, November 12) was one of the greatest days of my life, and not necessarily for anything good that happened, but for the gamut of emotions that was run over the course of it.
Flash back to noon Friday, when I woke much later than planned to a very shitty first half of the day. No lunch despite swiping in to Commons, not getting my problem set done until long after lab lecture was over and therefore missing YPMB football practice, and no bus showing up to take me downhill until after YPMB music rehearsal had already started made me a very angry boy.
Somehow, YPMB manages to make everything better.
I was excited about today before it even arrived, upon finding out the basis of our pregame and halftime shows. Pregame involved us playing a soccer game. ....no, that's it. Nothing else to it. We kicked a soccer ball around for 3 minutes of pregame, pausing for a short "halftime" in which we formed the traditional pregame Y and sang "hahvahd's team may fight 'til the end but YALE WILL WIN!" and immediately resumed soccer thereafter. Halftime was Latin themed, involving TWO Ricky Martin songs and forming a knife on the field. (I could reiterate the plot of the show to you, but I feel I wouldn't do it proper justice.)
The unfortunate thing about having to go to Princeton is that call time is ridiculously unhealthily early -- 5:30 in the band room. Since I had so much necessary stuff to do Friday night into Saturday morning (see Gilene's band perform in Morse [which rocked], laundry, shower), I decided to stay awake straight through until call time and sleep on the bus to Princeton instead. Somehow, when 5:30 AM arrived, I wasn't only awake, I was energetic, hopping all over the place like a rabbit on speed. Of course, that changed as soon as I got on the bus, and I had crashed in the back row of the bus by the time we reached New London.
Practice itself was awesome, as we not only got to run through the show, but I also got to meet up with Stan, who goes to Princeton, and who I hadn't seen in a good year or so. (He seemed to enjoy the soccer game a bit...) The performances in the game couldn't have gone any better, and everyone in the band was crazy and fired up for the game. There was only one thing we needed -- a victory.
After trailing 14-0 at the half, we traded punts and interceptions for what seemed like forever until about 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, when we forced and recovered a fumble on Princeton's 5 yard line. However, a slew of penalties sent us back a good 30 yards, and by the end of it with 4th and 30 from the 35 yard line, we could only hope for a prayer; and we got one -- in the form of a stupid play on defense. You see, had the ball fallen incomplete, Princeton would have received the ball on the 35 yard line and had a lot of room to work with. However, instead, their cornerback actually intercepted the pass rather than bat it down, and he was tackled at their own 2 yard line. Yale's defense stood strong and forced a punt, getting the ball back at around the 36 yard line with 3 minutes to go. Every play became absolutely vital, and the band was on its feet screaming through the entire duration of what happened next.
Yale drove slowly downfield and after a couple of extraordinarily close calls -- an almost-sure interception batted away by one of our receivers -- faced 1st and goal from the 10 yard line. However, three straight incompletions set up the defining moment of the season. 4th and 10, with less than 1:30 to play in the 4th quarter, down by 7, out of timeouts... and the pass was completed beautifully to a diving receiver in the endzone to tie the game.
On the ensuing play after the kickoff, a Princeton receiver caught a 12-yard pass and was turning to run upfield as our safety absolutely drilled him, knocking the ball into the air -- where it was caught by a Yale linebacker and run back to the Princeton 1 yard line. The referee ruled it as a, quote, "fumbled ball intercepted in the air by Yale". Three plays (and Princeton's last two timeouts) later, Yale was in the endzone on a 1-yard QB dive. Princeton had one last chance to tie it, but a desperation pass was intercepted, and the chants of "We want Harvard!" began.
After the game, the YPMB walked to a fountain in the middle of Princeton's campus and waded in it while playing the Yale march "Down the Field". Easily one of the stupidest things I've ever done, but I wouldn't have dreamt of going without doing it -- it's a tradition every time we win an away game against Princeton, and I won't have a chance to go back.
Leaving Princeton today, it all just felt so surreal, as though it was perfectly scripted from a movie. The weather was beautiful, the game was exciting, the company was amazing, and I just couldn't picture it being any better. It doesn't even seem so daunting the amount of work I have due by Monday, or the test on Wednesday. Everything just feels so right.
And the fun continues tomorrow with the YPMB / Glee Club football game, which excites me more and more by the minute as more people reply to my e-mails saying they will come. I've certainly captained teams before (as in, I pick you and you and you) but I've never actually coached one from the sidelines -- and tomorrow, I'll be doing both.
I love Yale. Why have I ever bothered to think that I didn't belong here?
Flash back to noon Friday, when I woke much later than planned to a very shitty first half of the day. No lunch despite swiping in to Commons, not getting my problem set done until long after lab lecture was over and therefore missing YPMB football practice, and no bus showing up to take me downhill until after YPMB music rehearsal had already started made me a very angry boy.
Somehow, YPMB manages to make everything better.
I was excited about today before it even arrived, upon finding out the basis of our pregame and halftime shows. Pregame involved us playing a soccer game. ....no, that's it. Nothing else to it. We kicked a soccer ball around for 3 minutes of pregame, pausing for a short "halftime" in which we formed the traditional pregame Y and sang "hahvahd's team may fight 'til the end but YALE WILL WIN!" and immediately resumed soccer thereafter. Halftime was Latin themed, involving TWO Ricky Martin songs and forming a knife on the field. (I could reiterate the plot of the show to you, but I feel I wouldn't do it proper justice.)
The unfortunate thing about having to go to Princeton is that call time is ridiculously unhealthily early -- 5:30 in the band room. Since I had so much necessary stuff to do Friday night into Saturday morning (see Gilene's band perform in Morse [which rocked], laundry, shower), I decided to stay awake straight through until call time and sleep on the bus to Princeton instead. Somehow, when 5:30 AM arrived, I wasn't only awake, I was energetic, hopping all over the place like a rabbit on speed. Of course, that changed as soon as I got on the bus, and I had crashed in the back row of the bus by the time we reached New London.
Practice itself was awesome, as we not only got to run through the show, but I also got to meet up with Stan, who goes to Princeton, and who I hadn't seen in a good year or so. (He seemed to enjoy the soccer game a bit...) The performances in the game couldn't have gone any better, and everyone in the band was crazy and fired up for the game. There was only one thing we needed -- a victory.
After trailing 14-0 at the half, we traded punts and interceptions for what seemed like forever until about 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, when we forced and recovered a fumble on Princeton's 5 yard line. However, a slew of penalties sent us back a good 30 yards, and by the end of it with 4th and 30 from the 35 yard line, we could only hope for a prayer; and we got one -- in the form of a stupid play on defense. You see, had the ball fallen incomplete, Princeton would have received the ball on the 35 yard line and had a lot of room to work with. However, instead, their cornerback actually intercepted the pass rather than bat it down, and he was tackled at their own 2 yard line. Yale's defense stood strong and forced a punt, getting the ball back at around the 36 yard line with 3 minutes to go. Every play became absolutely vital, and the band was on its feet screaming through the entire duration of what happened next.
Yale drove slowly downfield and after a couple of extraordinarily close calls -- an almost-sure interception batted away by one of our receivers -- faced 1st and goal from the 10 yard line. However, three straight incompletions set up the defining moment of the season. 4th and 10, with less than 1:30 to play in the 4th quarter, down by 7, out of timeouts... and the pass was completed beautifully to a diving receiver in the endzone to tie the game.
On the ensuing play after the kickoff, a Princeton receiver caught a 12-yard pass and was turning to run upfield as our safety absolutely drilled him, knocking the ball into the air -- where it was caught by a Yale linebacker and run back to the Princeton 1 yard line. The referee ruled it as a, quote, "fumbled ball intercepted in the air by Yale". Three plays (and Princeton's last two timeouts) later, Yale was in the endzone on a 1-yard QB dive. Princeton had one last chance to tie it, but a desperation pass was intercepted, and the chants of "We want Harvard!" began.
After the game, the YPMB walked to a fountain in the middle of Princeton's campus and waded in it while playing the Yale march "Down the Field". Easily one of the stupidest things I've ever done, but I wouldn't have dreamt of going without doing it -- it's a tradition every time we win an away game against Princeton, and I won't have a chance to go back.
Leaving Princeton today, it all just felt so surreal, as though it was perfectly scripted from a movie. The weather was beautiful, the game was exciting, the company was amazing, and I just couldn't picture it being any better. It doesn't even seem so daunting the amount of work I have due by Monday, or the test on Wednesday. Everything just feels so right.
And the fun continues tomorrow with the YPMB / Glee Club football game, which excites me more and more by the minute as more people reply to my e-mails saying they will come. I've certainly captained teams before (as in, I pick you and you and you) but I've never actually coached one from the sidelines -- and tomorrow, I'll be doing both.
I love Yale. Why have I ever bothered to think that I didn't belong here?