My UD: A fightin' spirit for the Blue and Gold
This spring, when my twin brother and I walk into Delaware Stadium for our Commencement, our mother will celebrate her 30th year as a professor of animal science at the University of Delaware. We’ve had Blue and Gold running through our veins since birth. Growing up, Delaware football meant wearing the most obnoxious outfits we owned (in a closet that consisted of only UD colors) and cheering on the team with whatever seats our mother had for that game. There were mostly good years, and the occasional poor season, but I was there for all of it. I spent a childhood watching football rankings and learning acronyms, reading scouting reports and schooling my mom on pass interferences. And it all paid off when I was 13.
It was 2007. I had season tickets for what was UD’s most memorable football season to me. I was there for the easy wins that had announcers calling the Blue Hens “something special.” I was there for the never-ending game against Richmond that caused me more heartbreak than a football game really should for a 13-year-old girl. And I was there in the bitter cold when UD played Delaware State for the first time in state history. It was the first round of the playoffs, and the spirit there almost made up for the fact that I couldn’t feel my toes. I must have spent hours chanting “OOOO-MARRRR,” cheering on the superstar running back. Omar Cuff was the highlight of that team, running a school record 288 yards for the game (nobody recognized that transfer quarterback Joe Flacco would one-day be a Super Bowl MVP). The season ended with a bad loss in the championship, but it was the closest I had ever come to college football glory, and I was infected with Blue Hen football obsession.
While Pat Devlin was quarterbacking a team that went to the national championship in 2010, I was starting my junior year of high school and thinking about SAT and AP tests. While Andrew Pierce was beating up CAA defenses in 2011, I had already submitted my application to UD. In 2012, I sat in Russell Hall watching a dismal play on TV while trying to figure out how to succeed in college as a freshman. My sophomore year of college saw the Blue Hens hand Towson their second loss in dramatic fashion: with an all-or-nothing two-point conversion called by a rookie head coach. I was trying to listen to the game and understand thermodynamics at the same time, wishing the game had been at home so I could see the top team in the CAA go down.
2014 was my first time at a Homecoming tailgate as a student. It was one of the most fun days I’ve had in college, combining my love of Delaware football with all of my friends and family. But now it’s senior year and the clock is ticking—the real world and a real job will start soon and Saturdays won’t mean walking to college football games. But until then, I’ll continue admiring Omar Cuff (who was inducted into the Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year). I’ll be singing and clapping when I hear an all-too familiar fight song. I’ll be rooting especially hard for the friend who was elected sole team captain this year. And I’ll be counting down the days until the best Saturday of the year—and my first as a new alum: Homecoming 2016.
What’s your UD story? We want to read more first-person essays from students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends. We’re looking for submissions of 500–750 words on how UD has impacted your life. Please share your story with themessenger@udel.edu.
