COLUMN: Aggie pride, go and catch it

    Aggie pride.

    It is something you either catch, or you don’t. It is something that, if you catch it, is incredibly infectious. It is something that, if you catch it, you want to spread it to everyone around you. It is something that, if you catch it, gets so deeply rooted that things such as reason, common sense or rationality seem to take a back seat to the loyalty for the Aggies.

    Aggie pride is something that spreads deeper than just athletics, though. Aggie pride is the entire sense of satisfaction that comes with life at Utah State University. Like I said before, you either catch it, or you don’t. Over the past five years I have met plenty of people who gave Utah State a try for a semester or an entire school year, but left unsatisfied and without that infectious sense of pride that seems to capture most of us up here.

    Whether we show it through relentless support of Utah State athletics, involvement in campus activities or just the overall sense of attachment and territorial nature of calling this place home, Aggie pride is everywhere.

    This is a sports column though, so as much as I would encourage everyone to get involved as much as possible and do what they can to make Utah State a better place than they found it, the bigger picture for me, and probably for the nation’s perception of Utah State, comes through athletics.

    Nothing shows off Aggie pride better than the single best crowd in the entire nation that we have at The Spectrum. If you catch it, it’s going to run rampant.

    Along with all that, maybe the most important thing I can tell people when it comes to sports is that you get out of it what you put in. Like most anything in life, the more you emotionally invest into something, the more rewarded you will feel when things really do go your way.

    Sure, there will be plenty of losses mixed in with all the wins, but that’s true to life as well. I said a while back that the win over BYU in football last October undoubtedly meant much more and brought much more joy to the people who had stood by the team through all the tough times over the years. Obviously the win was monumental for everybody stricken with Aggie pride, but for those few die-hards who really invested themselves, it was above and beyond just a great day. It was something unforgettable.

    In that same light, imagine how everybody who has sacrificed their vocal cords for Stew Morrill and company over the year will feel when USU finally busts through and makes that deep NCAA Tournament run we all know we are due for?

    There have been thousands upon thousands of us living and breathing everything Aggie basketball throughout our college years, enjoying tons of success, but also the occasional letdowns in that mix as well. Sure, we might not go winning national championships, but imagine the thrill of making a sweet-16 or elite eight in the big dance one of these years.

    What this all comes down to is: Aggie pride is something you should embrace 100 percent. Don’t just dabble in nerdy levels of excitement for what goes on at Utah State, but dive in head-first and go all out. That’s what I did, and I would not have had it any other way.

    Whether it’s just showing up early and making noise at every home game or being the kind of idiot who would start a game day newsletter and try all sorts of crazy chants, the rewards will outweigh any negatives.

    If nothing else, sports are the perpetual answer to the question of what there is to do in Logan. To me, and plenty others I’m sure, there is nothing better than throwing on a Game Day shirt, heading out to a game and screaming your heart out for our Aggies. Throw in a pre-game meal and a post-game party with your friends, and you’ve got yourself a solid evening out. And with the games themselves being unpredictable, it’s the much less repetitive.

    There is strength in numbers. The more people who commit to rabid fandom, the more fun it’ll be for everybody. Not only that, but the support for our teams reflects well on the school as a whole.

    My time at Utah State has been the time of my life because of all this and because of all the people who helped create the atmospheres we’ve created, and to that, I have nothing else to say but a huge thank you to everyone!

    Go Aggies.

Matt Sonnenberg is a senior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu.