COLUMN: Returning to F
When I was hired to be the Statesman sports editor at the end of my freshman year, I was ecstatic to prove myself as an worthy competitor for the bigshot professional reporters from the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News.
I wasn’t anything more than an arrogant beginner who lucked out into a great opportunity that I didn’t deserve.
Needless to say, I let the power go to my head a little and selected myself to be the beat writer for the two high-profile sports, meaning I spent all of the games in the working press area.
It was the same inflated ego and chip on my shoulder that persuaded me to accept my current spot as news editor here.
I will always miss working at the sports desk, but I didn’t realize how much I missed cheering from section F in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I forgot how to be a fan. I couldn’t remember any of the hand signals, like Marcel Davis’ “O” or Jarred Shaw’s chainsaw action.
I couldn’t remember when to chant “stupid” or “you suck.” I couldn’t remember when to slap the chair in front of me to the beat of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.”
I couldn’t remember any of the foul shot distractions I learned at the final Big West Conference Tournament in Anaheim, the year USU won it all and freshman Jaycee Carroll was the tournament MVP.
As a life-long Aggie fan, the only two things I remembered was the words to the fight song and Scotsman.
I forgot how cold it was to sit in the frigid January air, the breeze biting at my increasingly chapped lips. I forgot the tingling in my legs after sitting cross-legged for too long in the foyer with the rest of the Section F’ers.
I forgot the rush of adrenaline as I raced through the gate and down the stairs as the blood raced through my heart and into my veins.
I forgot what it was like to scream at the opposing bench until I sang contrabass Sunday morning because I couldn’t use any other vocal chords.
I’m still arrogant, still have a chip on my shoulder and am still a beginner, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to the press table.
Maybe after I make the mistake of graduating.
– Tavin Stucki is in his third year at Utah State, majoring in journalism. He is an avid Aggie fan and has been since birth. Follow him on Twitter at @StuckiAggies and send any comments to tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu.