By; Brandon Teela and Krissy Hetherington
the biggest news craze of Redwood so far this year has easily been the lack of music at football games. The endless jokes on this topic have finally boiled over to something more than a joke. Does Redwood football really need music? Does this affect the school, and what are students doing to adjust to this change?
Starting quarterback Julian Sanchez, ’20, says that the atmosphere is dragged down without music. “Last year there was a big crowd and we were all hype and it gives us motivation to play for our school.” And teammate Malachi Aguilar, ’20, backs him up in saying, “Last year the stadium was packed, and now like 30 people show up. It’s hard to function with out music.”
Trent Saephan, ’20, says that, “Usually to start the regular season, like last week at Lemoore, the stadium is packed. But as a team we would look back and there was barely anyone there, when we are used to seeing a sea of blue behind us.” He also addresses the most controversial part of the music, is it really just a party? Saephan says that it really is not the same without music, and no matter how much some people don’t like it, it is a social thing. “Students want to have fun and without music it is really hard.”
Some people including a few players like Jason Hruby, ’19, open the debate by saying this calling out other schools on not getting involved with this topic:
Lots of students do not find this crazy at all. Football does tend to get lots of attention which is arguably “too much” when it comes to sports. Water polo athlete Noah Zermeno, ’19, strongly states how football already gets a full assembly dedicated to them, they already get covered like crazy on Ranger TV, on the flip side, “We rarely really see a water polo highlight, or a tennis highlight,” Zermeno states. He says that losing music is not a big deal because they already get so much attention, and they should not be complaining about this, “minor change”.
These students on the other hand want to bring awareness to the fact that football games should be about the game itself and supporting your school’s sports despite music, spirit, etc. Some believe that students are being stubborn and should just accept it and move on by continuing to show just as much school spirit as before music was banned. Alexis Oliva, ’20, adds to this by saying on Twitter:
Football player Joel Atkinson, ’21, disagrees and says that it brings the whole team spirits down and it is not very fun when almost no one comes. He says, “We should have it back because it is a good thing overall and it brings up the whole atmosphere.”
Saephan, who is also a part of a big petition going around to get the music back shares special information. He says that, “I can’t really talk about it too much but what I can say is that a change will be happening. For Cowhide, we are 90% sure we will have music. Another student with this petition has already had a meeting with Mr. Shin (the principal) and they have talked. Compromises will be made.” RUMOR says that things may change but this is only a pre-game report so nothing is certain.
But in the end, who knows? What does “90%” mean? It definitely means it is likely but not guaranteed, and how much is the school and district office willing to compromise? Stay tuned for more information…and remember the decision to go to games or not lies in YOUR hands.
Brandon Teela
Brandon, '21, is a senior and this is his fourth year under the Redwood Gigantea name. He has a love for sports journalism. Outside of journalism Brandon participates on the Redwood basketball team and would love to find a journey under sports journalism after high school.
Tags: football, music, music at football games, Redwood, redwood football, redwood gigantea, redwood high, redwood high school, redwood highschool, redwood journalism, redwood ranger, redwood rangers, redwood sports, redwoodhighschool, redwoodrangers, student section, students
I think that people are making this a big deal for no reason. It’s their way of protesting a minor inconvenience they don’t always have music at regular football games but people don’t complain. I believe everyone is blowing the situation out of proportion and they should go to the game anyway.