Jacob Valenti
School spirit used to mean that when one of our teams, no matter the sport, took the field (or playing arena) we would cheer and scream until we’d won, Hell, even if we lost we’d still support our peers. School spirit in the past meant that, as a unified group, we would fill our team's hearts with fire and their souls with passion. We’d chant together, we’d jump together, and we’d dress together as one coagulated group of all types of people. Brown and gold lined the stands on Friday, yelling filled my ears, and people surrounded me.
Yelling and cheering is of course standard with this type of gathering; however, the sounds I heard were not the ones I wanted. I was standing to the right of the section of people who consider themselves to have “spirit” and originate most of the main chants. I enjoy chanting at the games, especially to the theme of a White Stripes song called "Seven Nation Army." But Friday night the chants were half-hearted, hardly going past two verses. Traditionally, chants have a creative saying like “You’re still ug-ly” followed by a clap--clap--clap-clap-clap, this process is repeated at least three times, or at least it should be. At the homecoming game the chants stopped after repeating the initial chant once. Other chants were louder and had more length, but those were the ones by specific cliques cheering for individuals rather than for the team as a whole.
The most disappointing part however was the chanting of "Seven Nation Army." The beat of the song is sung in a series of “whoas" by the crowd usually following a touchdown, field goal, or basically anything awesome. This event did occur but it stopped within ten seconds of its starting. When this happened I leaned over to my buddy and said “If this was a European soccer match that chant would be going for ten minutes.”
The most distracting thing to happen during the game was the number of pictures being taken of different people who had dressed up for the game, decked out in brown and gold clothing and paint. I noticed that while the game was being played, these fans with “spirit” would be facing the other way so that they may get their pictures taken from above in the stands. Flashes and shutters covered up two point conversions and vuvuzelas. At this point I leaned over to my buddy, who must’ve been getting sick of me by then, and said “It’s no longer about spirit, it’s about pictures of spirit.”
School spirit is no longer measured by unified chants, it is measured by whether or not you can get your friend on the field to hear you. School spirit is no longer about jumping when points are scored, but about how still we can stand and look at our phones. School spirit is no longer about being slathered in brown and gold; instead, it is measured by how many likes a picture of you dressed in brown and gold gets online.
Friday, October 9th marked the day of Haverhill High School’s homecoming football game, prompting current students, alumni, teachers, and parents to flock to the stands. “School spirit,” of course, is measured by attendance and crowd participation at the game, of which I saw very much...on Instagram.
School spirit used to mean that when one of our teams, no matter the sport, took the field (or playing arena) we would cheer and scream until we’d won, Hell, even if we lost we’d still support our peers. School spirit in the past meant that, as a unified group, we would fill our team's hearts with fire and their souls with passion. We’d chant together, we’d jump together, and we’d dress together as one coagulated group of all types of people. Brown and gold lined the stands on Friday, yelling filled my ears, and people surrounded me.
Yelling and cheering is of course standard with this type of gathering; however, the sounds I heard were not the ones I wanted. I was standing to the right of the section of people who consider themselves to have “spirit” and originate most of the main chants. I enjoy chanting at the games, especially to the theme of a White Stripes song called "Seven Nation Army." But Friday night the chants were half-hearted, hardly going past two verses. Traditionally, chants have a creative saying like “You’re still ug-ly” followed by a clap--clap--clap-clap-clap, this process is repeated at least three times, or at least it should be. At the homecoming game the chants stopped after repeating the initial chant once. Other chants were louder and had more length, but those were the ones by specific cliques cheering for individuals rather than for the team as a whole.
The most disappointing part however was the chanting of "Seven Nation Army." The beat of the song is sung in a series of “whoas" by the crowd usually following a touchdown, field goal, or basically anything awesome. This event did occur but it stopped within ten seconds of its starting. When this happened I leaned over to my buddy and said “If this was a European soccer match that chant would be going for ten minutes.”
The most distracting thing to happen during the game was the number of pictures being taken of different people who had dressed up for the game, decked out in brown and gold clothing and paint. I noticed that while the game was being played, these fans with “spirit” would be facing the other way so that they may get their pictures taken from above in the stands. Flashes and shutters covered up two point conversions and vuvuzelas. At this point I leaned over to my buddy, who must’ve been getting sick of me by then, and said “It’s no longer about spirit, it’s about pictures of spirit.”
School spirit is no longer measured by unified chants, it is measured by whether or not you can get your friend on the field to hear you. School spirit is no longer about jumping when points are scored, but about how still we can stand and look at our phones. School spirit is no longer about being slathered in brown and gold; instead, it is measured by how many likes a picture of you dressed in brown and gold gets online.
Great observation. Well written article.
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