The atmosphere at the football game is always something that’s so distinctly Rutgers. As you look over the sea of red, you realize truly how many Scarlet Knights there are. Old and new come together, all unified by the same two things: a love of Rutgers and a love of football. A friend who recently visited me from another school commented upon seeing this, “There’s so much school spirit. I don’t even know what to do!” Everyone knows the chants, the rituals, when to begrudgingly say “We’re still chanting ‘F*** Penn State’!?” At the Homecoming game on Saturday against Kansas, this feeling was very much present.
Rutgers took the lead early on and at the sound of the first canon boom, the crowd erupted. As per usual, a group of guys started tossing a girl in the air and everyone cheered their “RU RAH RAH”s. After a tough loss against Penn State and the current controversies surrounding the football program, everyone was happy to finally be cheering for something good.
Homecoming this year was especially important because it honored 100 years of the Rutgers University Marching Band. People were dressed in the outfits of Colonial Revolutionaries and past members of the marching band were invited back. Walking down College Avenue, I saw group after group of elderly men equipped with their instruments and Rutgers Marching Band shirts, walking along the banks of the Old Raritan and reminiscing about times gone by.
I know that, just as my father does, I’ll be bringing my friends and my own children to Rutgers games long after I’ve forgotten much of what I learned here. I’ll put on my scarlet red, cheer as the Scarlet Knight comes by, and pray I hear that canon sound one last time.