You and what army
September 25, 2014 by Mike Casazza
The world is talking about TFGD this week, and deservedly so, but I’d like to point or redirect you to the one that had my attention for an altogether different reason.
9:24
We’re all jumping in our section and then they play 7NA and everyone stops and shudders. “[Ferocious] Claiborne…” Then that happens!
I actually saw this one in real time. I usually don’t see the texts until Sunday night, which makes for odd interactions when people I do or do not know see me after a game and go, “Yo, my text, right?” Then I tell them I’m not who they think I am, but that this happens all the time.
But this one was different. Alex Ross housed it and I, having been to many a rodeo through the years, grabbed my phone to see what time it hit the fan and what time the idea for this particular post came to me.
1) It gets every stadium going. It’s a fact. I’ve been to every stadium in every sport and it works everywhere. Don’t argue.
2) WVU fans are now legitimately and understandably conditioned to be fearful when they hear the strings. Post-score touchdowns follow. Call it PSTD.
The first isn’t that big of a problem for me. It’s too hard to be original today, and it’s too shortsighted to keep some songs out of the rotation. The chorus of “Ohs” makes for a loud and lively scene and it’s really not different than “Shout” or “Rock n Roll Part 2” or other songs you hear at different places.
The second one, that’s a problem, right? It’s Pavlovian for pessimism and that’s not a good vibe. I mean, everyone knows “Jump Around” at Camp Randall means the fourth quarter is about to begin. And everyone at Mountaineer Field knows 7NA is about to debilitate the Mountaineers. If you were in the stadium Saturday or watching on television at a place where it wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear the song and then the fans, you can’t tell me you didn’t think, if only for a moment, “…this is bad. This is bad.”
And what happened when you were right? Did you blame DeForest and Rumph and Molinari and also Matt Wells? Probably!
I don’t know what to do. Drop it completely? Ban it between a WVU score and kickoff? Don’t play any music there? Replace it with another song there? What song? But we need to make an adjustment. Open weeks are about self-evaluation and this seems like as good a place as any to make a needed improvement.