As we march further into winter’s embrace, let us not forget the warmer months and their memories to keep us toasty even when the white gloves aren’t enough to prevent the cold from seeping through to our fingertips.
Remember when you tried to forget the heat in August?
A group of sweaty MVs fallen over; Source: Nikki Jean
It’s sweltering, but you manage to shove yourself into the rough cotton of the uniform. I thought white was supposed to reflect heat, you think. But the heat stays trapped against you, sticking to your skin, one more layer to the uniform itself.
“IT’S GAME DAY!” someone screams from the center of the field. You forget, if only for a moment, the stickiness of the August heat. There’s another warmth to consume you, and it starts in your chest, maybe in your palms or in your stomach, everyone knows it’s there.
Everyone knows it’s game day.
You play the warm-up, attempting to steady nerves, or maybe to forget how incredibly hot your body feels. Your fingers casually rotate through, having played it a million times.
The band doing their motorcycle exercise before the game; Source: Lexie Hackman
And then comes the breathing exercises. Each time the number increases as you do the motorcycle stretch, your legs swell with heat coming closer and closer to the ground, the muscles flexing to balance. You think the sweat will seep through the uniform at this point.
Photo Taken by Lexie Hackman of the band students performing the motorcycle activity for the game.
But it’s not until you form the parade block that you truly forget the feeling of the summer heat. Your eyes sweep across the parking lot as you cross the field gates. A slew of tailgating hokies in maroon and orange turn to stare at the band, at you. Red solo cups in hand, they cheer for you, we cheer for us.
An MV high fiving a Manager while walking into the stadium; Source: Nikki Jean
And you run, along the edges, hand extended slapping and whooping spectators hands down the parking lot until you hit the stadium. But the fun has only begun, and you’ve got quite a bit of time for it to catch momentum.
Your heart still pounds, even as you wait to enter Lane Stadium. Slapping hokie stone, we race to the South Endzone. Everyone stomps up the metal steps to the bleachers, screaming “I hate these steps!” You don’t know the tradition, you only know how to do it. And it’s really fun.
Nikki Jean and Jessica Stewart having a good time cheering for the Hokies; Source: MV Instagram
It might take some time before you play a stands tune, but that’s alright. You spend time conversing with those around you, learning about the other section behind you or in front of you, maybe even beside you.
When the drum major swings their body into action, the band knows what to do. Hips swaying, hands clapping, horns popping, each person has a dance and each section knows how to groove. And no matter how many times you dance and groove to the same song, it never gets old.
And the football team and the fans are always thankful.
That’s what makes halftime amazing is the hokie crowd. From their cheering to standing ovations, they live and breathe hokie support.
The piccolo section getting into cheering for the Hokies; Source: Katrina Newby
So remember your effort, remember your footing, remember your playing, remember how hard it was to get to this point. The experience makes the game day and there really isn’t anything else like it.
I promise you won’t remember the sweat until you’re climbing back up the treacherous Chicken Hill and you don’t care enough to separate skin from cloth. You don’t care because
You’re exhausted
IT’S GAME DAY.