By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
I’ve lost my voice on several occasions while attending San Benito Greyhound football games; that is before I began my career with the San Benito News and I could still cheer as a spectator. There were times when I participated in my fair share of mischievousness associated with rivalry games and the like, and I’m sure that if I were caught I probably would have spent the night in jail.
For instance, there was that one time when….forget it.
Yep, it takes a special type of person to be a Greyhound fan. We’re loud, obnoxious and in your face, and we love every minute of it. Although I’m sure the same could be said by Harlingen Cardinal fans (if they should be so inclined to, oh, I don’t know, admit that they’re not perfect), it’s just different in San Benito.
You see, Cardinal fans have long had cause to remain enthusiastic about their team; after all, they remain one of, if not the winningest high school football program in the Valley. While San Benito has been much more competitive over the last several years, depending on who you talk to, there was once a time when we were the Cleveland Browns of the Valley – a respected club with a storied history rich in tradition, yes, but also a team constantly struggling to remain relevant. To put it bluntly, we were horrible for a long time. And it’s not really anyone’s fault. There are just some years (or decades, I guess) when you can’t win.
The one constant, like the Browns, is that we’ve always had some of the more passionate fans around. Okay, there have been games when folks left well before the end of the fourth quarter after it became clear a ’Hounds loss was inevitable. There have also been several seasons when attendance was….how should I put this….not at full capacity.
But for the core group – like your Hector Avilas, your Ed Ogdees, your Allen Doans, your Marcus Lowerys and your Betos (what’s this fella’s last name?) – supporting the team is not a matter of whether or not they win or lose. They quite simply don’t know any other way to live. There’s something in these individuals’ DNA, and perhaps something that fate has also dictated, that makes these fans gush enthusiasm for the Greyhounds. It’s what makes them paint their faces, it’s what makes them keep statistics for over half a century, and it’s what made them pick up a bass drum and start beating it to rally the fan base.
Uncompromising and unyielding, they possess a flinty heart, if you will, that tells them that they really do bleed purple and gold and that all others who say otherwise “just don’t get it.”
And you know what? They don’t.
The First Annual Hooked on ’Hounds competition begs the question: What happens when you pit these people against each other? We’re going to find out as the News will be profiling those who we think show the most enthusiasm. These profiles will be published in future editions of the San Benito News and, after the Greyhounds win a state championship this year, we’ll be rounding them all up and letting you – our readers – vote for the fan you believe is the most deserving.
The winner will get an autographed San Benito Greyhounds helmet.
So if you think you’ve got what it takes to be the number one Greyhound fan in San Benito, prove it. Email me at editor@sbnewspaper.com and suggest fans, if not yourself, for us to highlight and we’d be more than happy to take them into consideration, along with others who we already have in mind. Remember that what I want is absolute craziness. Show me that you’ve lost it, that you’re so hooked on the ’Hounds that life as you know it can’t exist without the purple and gold. Your walls should have holes about the size of your first from all the times you punched it after hearing we lost a game. Heck, if you were home when you found out and not at the game then you don’t even qualify.
Okay, maybe you’ll qualify, but you get my drift.
I guess the best way to put it is like this: I want you guys to show me what you’ve got. Bring the spirit.
Read this story in the Oct. 14 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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