Thursday, September 21, 2006


Legacy

You never know what kind of an impact your actions will make on other people until years later on. Boy, did I get a reality check today. Ben Lippen school is just one of the many private schools my former high school Wilson Hall plays. Back in the school year 1997-1998, the group of guys from many class years with whom I had been joining in with during Basketball games and cheering with, decided to formally form a group called Da Baron Fans. I was one of only two girls in the group, and when the other decided to leave, I was it. We weren't an institute of cheerleaders, we were fans of the game, come to cheer our classmates. And surprisingly for me, I won Most School Spirit the following year due to my participation.

There were many great times, great games, and great memories...and interesting ones. During one home game, an out-of-control gal fan from an opposing school came at us and for no reason ripped my foam electric guitar in half. I was able to recover the piece, but no classmates of mine *in my entire life* had EVER stood up for me the way those guys did for me that night! Another time, some news camera came to film the game and we all got to ham it up for the camera when it came close to us. I never did find out which station it was, much less if we made the air. Everyone told me I had to keep it up for my Senior Year the next school year (1998-1999) when most of the guys in DBF would have just graduated. It was during after the new season had already started that I got sick and had to withdraw from school.

Da Baron Fans, autumn 1997. I'm the short one on the right.


Little did I know what trailblazers we were. While I never found out what had become of Da Baron Fans, I did observe during a game the following year (visiting while sick) that one newcomer came to the game dressed as a war Baron in honor of our teams' name. Given the amount of attention I had gotten from the younger kids at school (and customers & cashiers alike at the local Winn Dixie) because of DBF, I reckoned this new Baron had heard of us and was also full of team spirit. I heard nothing else of school spirit until tonight when on the 7pm news, WIS highlighted the Ben Lippen Superfans, a group of similar origin, founded in 1999. Hot on the heels of DBF and I *know* they were watching us (as I'm sure the aforementioned girl was from either Ben Lippen or Hammond). Interesting how these things we do inspire others.

Oh btw, it was because of Da Baron Fans, that my online name became Rainbow Heron. I just cropped that particular photo earlier today to put on the About Me page for the new (and coming soon) layout for my websites. :-)
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