Show Us Your Life - School Spirit and Sporting Traditions

I think this is going to be a very interesting Show Us Your Life, since it's about our favorite sports teams, traditions, and anything else involving our school spirit - I'm interested to see what everyone says! It would seem obvious that William & Mary is my favorite, but that wouldn't be right. I'm sure it's obvious by now that I LOVE W&M and fully plan on Spencer continuing the legacy, but we're not the most athletic bunch. (Except this year, the Tribe is doing amazingly well!)


Don't get me wrong, when the Tribe plays, I'm always rootin' for them, but sports just wasn't our thing. We only had tailgates on select game days and they were very limited by the lack of available space. I didn't even go to one until two years after I graduated! How crazy!

Tribe Pride Hip Hop Style

So even though I have endless amounts of Tribe Pride, I'm really a UNC and ACC girl at heart- I've written about it before. That might seem strange too, seeing as I'm a born and bred Virginian, but it's not! My Papa was from that area and he was a huge Carolina fan as were his 11 brothers and sisters. Oh, maybe I should just preface that he was a GREAT basketball player. But in December of his senior year of high school the US officially entered WWII and he enlisted in the Navy- patriotism beat out basketball and college.


Okay, so back to UNC- my whole southern half of the family loves the Tarheels. It was a point of pride for my Papa that my mom (his only child) could always name the entire starting line up and second string every season. When I heard this I just HAD to beat my mom, so I went about memorizing every single player and their positions! My Papa laughed when I recited all of the stats to him, he thought his brothers would get a real kick out it - his only grandchild, a granddaughter, (my brother wasn't born then) knowing more about UNC basketball than all of their gazillion grandsons combined. I was a cheerleader for most of my life, cheering at varsity basketball games when I was a freshman and every other type of basketball game there was- up to 5 games a week sometimes! I learned more about "the game" in those years then you could imagine. Now I don't make myself memorize their stats, but I still always know the starting lineup and second string.


But for our family, it's not just UNC pride, it's also ACC loyalty that's important. Even though I can't stand Duke, I still root for them when they play a non-conference team. And if both teams playing aren't in the ACC, then Papa would say to support the team closest and most southern in geographical proximity, haha!



The only other "odd" caveat in our rules system is state versus private- and public schools trump private schools. Papa would say that's because the state schools represented "our people," and it was the "Yankee rich folk" who started private schools and now they were trying to do the same in the South! (Sorry to offend you Northerners! But my dad is from NJ AND went to private schools and my Papa Loved him- it's just how many people in the south tended to think back then) And while I don't exactly agree with how he arrived at his conclusion, I still agree with it, because I think private schools undermine state programs. But I'm just a fan of public education, so maybe that's clouding my opinion, haha.


So that's the heirarchy of how I go about basketball season. It's the same rules for football, but I just don't like that sport very much, so I don't have the same passion for it as I do basketball. And that's how my family does sports! Sometimes it can be hard to follow all the rules, especially when something crazy happens, like Boston College becoming part of the ACC, but I still did/do it. It's almost like a weird code/badge of honor- because above all else, we're "loyal people." (As my Papa would say!)

**More Show You How I Live Posts**

Baby Gear Favorite Dessert Recipes
Favorite Go-To Dinner Recipe
My Baby Shower
School Pictures
Favorite Vacation Spot
I Have a Child. The Jig is Up.
Here Comes the Maid Of Honor

Back in the Day

This would be me, circa 1996- please note the outdated scrunchie (outdated even for 1996) in my hair. I'm about 60% sure this picture was taken during cheerleading/gymnastics camp in Charlotte, NC. There's a 40% in could have been at the University of North Carolina. Either way, it was 1996 in North Carolina.

I used to cheer for Hilda McDaniel, the founder of All-Star Cheering; that means we only competed, we didn't "root" for anyone but ourselves.. To say the pressure was intense would be a huge understatement! I really loved it for awhile, and I was good at it. I won the All-American Cheerleading award in 1997, which is the most prestigious award in cheerleading (weird, I know). I had to try out for All-American status, in front of gazillions of people, being judged on technique, jumps, tumbling, spirit and overall crowd appeal.

I was only 15 then, but I'd already started to grow tired of it. I can't adequately describe the pressure and give it justice, because it seems so silly now. Even now, years after my cheerleading "career" ended, I have frequent dreams where I'm in the middle of a competition and I can't do a back-flip anymore. There are different variations on this dream- I can't do a twist, layout, handspring, or I forgot the routine.

I eventually decided that I had to stop cheering for either my high school squad or my All-Star squad. I ended up choosing to stay with high school because I felt there was nothing left I wanted/needed to accomplish in the AS world. And I didn't love it anymore, and you really need to love something if you're going to sink 10-15 hours a week in it (that didn't even count on my high school practices and games, or gymnastic classes/practices). I also really wanted to do show choir and there was no way I could do all of them. (Did anyone watch GLEE last night?)


Most people who know me in real life ALWAYS ask me if Spencer is going to be a cheerleader. My immediate, gut response is always an emphatic "No!" But I don't really mean that, Spencer can do whatever she wants. It's just me, being selfish, not wanting to be immersed in those thoughts and feelings again.

The next question people ask me is why I didn't cheer in college. There are two reasons: the first being I severely dislocated my shoulder and tore my rotator cuff at a pep rally my junior year. That ended any possibility of cheering for a big school. I never planned on that, I always wanted to go to W&;M, but you never know. There were a lot of times when I wondered if I should go to a big school and cheer- what else had I been working towards all these years? For most cheerleaders, that's the ultimate dream, and there I was turning my nose up at it. So when I hurt my shoulder, I really felt that it was a sign from the cosmos. The second reason, and not to put down W&M in any way- because I LOVE that school, but my middle school squad was better than theirs. (And no offense to the cheering squad there, either!  There were definitely some great cheerleaders, they were just not in the majority)

That is the story of my cheer history! I used to omit my cheer history whenever I met someone new, mostly because people always assumed it meant I was a dumb, snobby slut. But that makes me mad at myself, I should be proud that there was a time in my life when I was really really good at something! (even if it was cheerleading!) Now this isn't a video of us, I only have VHS tapes so I can't upload it, but just so you have an idea of the level of competition, here is a video of Hilda's current team, Cheer Factory.

Pee

So I'm still feeling like poo today, but on the positive side, Spencer made a little progress in the potty training department. Well, that might be a bit of exaggeration!


I had just finished putting her clothes on this morning, when she looked at me and patted her "Ya-Ya" (what we call her lady parts (like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)) and said "Pee Pee!"

I looked at her and said "Did you go Pee Pee in your Diaper?" She nodded her head yes and kept saying "Pee Pee Mama!"

Sure enough, she had wet her diaper in the 2.5 seconds since I had put it on her. I mean, we're definitely not far along in the potty training process, but I figure we're making a good start. I have read a few things about it, so I know not to pressure her and that rewarding is very important. But I'm always open to tips!
That's really all that's happened today, except for my excitement over UNC winning The Big Dance! Too bad I fell asleep twice during the game because I felt like such crap! I had to set my alarm clock to make sure I would be awake to watch the last few minutes. SAD!

ACC Tarheel

Growing up in Virginia, one might think I'd either be a UVA or Tech fan, but I'm not. I am a die hard Tarheel girl, and I have been for as long as I can remember. My mom roots for UNC, and her dad, my Papa, was also a huge Tarheel fan. It's in my blood!
I'm not what you'd call a "Sports Chick," not at all. The exception to this rule is ACC Basketball. I know stats, line ups, bench depth, plays, etc. I also have "rules." Even though I HATE Duke, I will always root for them over a non-ACC team- conference loyalty is number one in my book. Otherwise, there is no way on earth I ever root for Duke.


When I was in the 8th grade, someone murdered the Tarheel mascot, and I wore Carolina Blue all week, seven days, as a sign of my mourning. D-I-E H-A-R-D!! The very first thing I registered for, when I was pregnant with Spencer, was a Tarheel onesie. I have a million of these little crazy UNC facts, but I think you get the picture.


March Madness is one of my favorite times of year! I enter a few pools, and last year, I won $250! I spend a ridiculously long time picking out my brackets, running possible win scenarios. What can I say? It's one of the few areas of sports that requires brain over brawn.

So of course you know what I will be doing this weekend- watching the ACC tourney! Spencer and I will both be decked out in our Carolina Blue- it's a real color folks. Hope everyone has a wonderful, lucky Tarheel weekend!