Why am I doing what I do?

Hammerisms

1. Tighter is better.

2. Hey. Heeeyy!!!

3. I don't know what that was, but I never want to see it again.

4. Jimmy almost died!

5. I feel like the mexican national anthem up here.

6. ...I'll call up whoever runs Leroy Football...

7. If you don't want to touch boys, you're on the wrong team.

8.This team is... okay.

9. That was very close to the money maker.

10. I'm not kidding, I will lose my job!!

This list is currently being made into a T-shirt that shortly, everyone on the boys soccer team will own. It's a list of all of the memorable shit our coach, Bob Hammer, has said to us over the years. It was actually very difficult to cut the list down to ten. While some are recent, some are from up to four years old. Either way, they all spark a certain memory within us all. They've all been repeated and imitated over the years countless times, and hopefully, with the creation of the shirts, the trend will continue for years to come.

On a similar note, I was sitting in the auditorium today, on the eve of the state championships at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse, when I looked around me and saw most of the band, even some directors, wearing T-shirts that had been made by everyone last week. Everyone wrote anything that they wanted on their shirt, but there were obviously a lot of repeats. Similar to the Hammerisms in soccer, there were quotes all over the marching band shirts. Things like, "Get Some," or, "Let Me Clear My Throat,"or, "It's Game Time," were plastered all over these shirts.

Somewhere along the line, it hit me that without activities like soccer and marching band, my life would be ten billion times different. First and most important of all, I would have none of these awesome memories that are brought back to me everytime I see one of these Hammerism or marching band quotes.

The entire situation reminds me that soccer is more than winning or losing. There are other benefits to an activity than getting the W after a game. How about the amount of friendships that we gain or advance throughout a season? Or the amount of lasagna/pasta/pulled pork I was able to consume this fall at our spaghetti dinners? It doesn't stop there... the quotes listed on the back of our Hammerisms shirt symbolize the countless fun times that I've had over the years.

So when I say hey, you say ha.