Wanting Both Teams to Win

From 2010 09 Northwestern vs Rice

How do you watch a football game when you want both teams to win? Other fans look at you funny if you cheer loudly for a first down on one play and then cheer just as loudly for a good defensive stop on the next. That's the situation "L" and I were in Saturday night.

After the jump, the details.

---

"L" and I were in Houston Saturday night, in Rice Stadium where the Rice Owls (alma mater to one son) hosted the Northwestern Wildcats (alma mater to the other). "L" and I dealt with it the only way possible -- we wore our Rice garb during the first half, our Northwestern garb during the second half, and cheered for good plays for both teams throughout.

There was a Richardson angle to the game. Kramer Lucio, Rice's starting defensive end, is a Berkner High School graduate (2007).

Halftime at a Rice Owls game keeps the fans in their seats as the Marching Owl Band, the MOB, takes the field. The MOB is not your typical marching band. They wear black suits and fedoras (except for the odd marcher wearing a sombrero or a football helmet). They march any instrument they want, from a cello to an electric violin. Their halftime shows are usually irreverent or comical or head-scratchingly obtuse or all of the above. Saturday night, the MOB took aim at Rice administration and the construction projects that are changing campus. Space aliens invade campus, landing their giant glass flying saucer (a new coffee/sandwich shop) in the heart of Rice's ivy-covered brick buildings. The aliens unleash a virus that causes Rice's residential colleges to start dividing and growing out of control (Rice is expanding). Confused? It helps to be familiar with campus politics. I guess you just had to see it. :-) Remember, without the band, it's just a game.

For a look at all the action, look here.