Acknowledgement, Pt. 1: Continued

Continuing with my Auburn experience:

August 2005: Band Camp
I remember the first day of band camp was tough. It rained the entire time we were learning how to march "Auburn" style. It was awkward being thrown into the mix in this new band. The marching styles were different here than in high school. We were first put into squads and tested to see how well we had grasped the marching fundamentals. My squad consisted of three other members (remaining anonymous) . One member had trouble with high-knee marching and pregame fundamentals. After we FINALLY passed off, I said, "We finally did it!" Then I noticed that one member had not passed off their fundamentals. I felt horrible. Me and a few of the other guys went and talked with the member and we all moved along. Later on I found out that I had been put on alternate status. Man, what a blow. After all that hard work, I felt a little down about that. But I kept up a positive attitude and learned drill anyway. Now that I look back, only 5 out of the 13 rookies were allowed to march. That's crazy considering only 2 or 3 rookies were placed as alternates this year. But things were competitive, and you had to keep on your toes. I was put into one of my section leader's squads and paired with another freshman to rotate out games as an alternate. Even though I wasn't going to march, I kept trying my best to learn the drill and show how much I wanted to march to my section leaders. I learned about 7 or 8 pregame and halftime shows as an alternate that year. Ever since then, I've always had the most utmost respect for the alternates because of what they go through during rehearsals.

Auburn vs. Georgia Tech (L 14-23): September 3, 2005
I was really hyped up for this game. It was my first Auburn football game to attend. And I was doing it big- I was in the band. I was more than just watching the game- I was IN the game. Going into this game, I felt that Georgia Tech was supposed to be a cupcake football team. I wasn't worried about them. The Friday before the game was the traditional "Wreck Tech" parade. It was amazing to get to play at my first pep rally. It was even more exciting knowing that that parade was only the beginning of my Auburn experience. We played at Toomer's Corner for all the fraternities and sororities- it was a huge crowd. On Saturday we all rose early for a morning practice. After the practice was finished, I tailgated with some folks, which was a new experience for me. As the hours ticked away, I became more excited to get suited up to play. I walked back to the bandroom and couldn't believe I was in an Auburn band uniform. Everybody looked so sharp in those blue and white uniforms. It was a big change from the red and white uniforms back in high school. Time came to get read to do Tiger Walk and the other pregame rituals. The guy I was "mirroring" as an alternate didn't show up to the band hall on time. Everybody began to freak out. I began to freak out. I didn't have much experience actually marching his spot, and if he didn't show up, I'd be filling in for him. At the absolute final moment, he showed up- in the wrong uniform. That particular day, the uniform was white coats with blue pants. He showed up in the blue coat with white pants. Seeing him made me even more uneasy, but inside I was also optimistic and hopeful that I could march his spot. After Tiger Walk, we entered the stadium for the pregame marcharound. At the time I called it the "death march." It was amazing. There were walls of people everywhere. I was overwhelmed by just marching in the short marcharound. I was worried about the situation with my partner and wondering where he was. When we got back under the stadium from the marcharound, I saw my partner- in the right uniform. I felt somewhat relieved, but inside I was disappointed. However, I kept my chin up- I knew I'd get my opportunity sometime if I kept a good attitude. It was finally time to deliver the granddaddy of them all- the pregame show. All of the alternates, including myself, lined up to keep people from walking out onto the field. It was a bittersweet feeling as I watched the others march out onto the field. The roar of the crowd was deafening. But I remember that I was just happy to be there- to be apart of the Auburn band. The game ended in a defeat, and I don't remember much about the game itself. However, the experience was overwhelming- it was UNBELIEVABLE! My first Auburn game was one to remember.

Auburn vs. Mississippi State (W 28-0) September 9, 2005:
My parter and I agreed that we'd switch out every other game, and so this week was my turn to march out for pregame and halftime. We put on a completely new show that was themed as a "disco" show. This game was special because it was the first game that my parents came to watch me. It was also the first Auburn game that they'd ever attended- it was special for all of us. The brutal practices of a few weeks ago became a little easier, but the weather was still punishing. We were only practicing about an hour each day, but with it being hot, things were still rough. This particular game was televised on Jefferson-Pilot Sports. I came to learn that any game televised on JP meant that kickoff would be at 11 A.M. Naturally with that early kickoff, we had to get up especially early for the morning rehearsal. When Saturday approached, the heat only seemed to get worse. It was sweltering hot on gameday. After the morning rehearsal, we immediately prepared for all of the pregame festivities. Tiger Walk and the marcharound went by fast. I was just ready to perform pregame. When we lined up, I was directly under the tunnel looking out toward the crowd. The sunlight was blinding, but I saw the eagle flying. It was an amazing site- and now in 2008 this was the only time that I've seen that eagle fly. When time came for us to march, I grew more excited. I became focused. As I was standing there, there was a guy dressed up as Space Ghost and another guy dressed up as The Flash in the crowd looking down on us. Space Ghost yelled at us, "Where is that guy's hat!?" Sure enough, there was a mellophone player who was hatless. He freaked out and ran under the stadium to find his hat. After he found his hat, we were good to go to march out. I became nervous as we marched out to the drum cadence. My throat became dry. I couldn't even play my trombone the first 30 minutes of the show. There were just walls of people everywhere. The cheers of the fans was much louder than that of a passing train. I finally got back into my groove and everything was perfect. The game was also a great success. We pounded Miss St. 28-0. Halftime was also fun, but again that heat was punishing. Overall, it was a thrill to march for the first time, and little did I know how much better things were going to get for me.

Auburn vs. Ball State September 17, 2005:
Practice once again started up on the next Monday. Only this practice was different than the rest. The first thing our section leaders told us was that one of our trombone players had decided to quit the band. The member who had quit was a full-time marcher, so naturally the question arose of who was to replace the member. After our warmup, we broke off for practice. I had been with one of my section leader's squads for a few weeks now, and I did my best to show him how much I wanted to march. I didn't brown nose or anything, but I just made sure to learn everything the best that I could. Something told me to hold the fort and not run off to practice and just see what would happen. So I dropped my music, conveniently, of course. I heard the section leader whose squad I was in tell the other "Take one of mine." The next thing I knew, the other section leader said, "Josh! You're in another squad now!" I just said OK and moved on like I was up to the task (and I was). But inside, I was the happiest man on Earth. I was finally going to be able to march full-time! It felt like all the work I had put in had finally paid off. Since that separated me and my partner, now 6/13 rookies were marching full-time, a number that is still high in today's standards. Anyway, I joined up a new squad and wound up marching next to Matt. It reminded me of old times in high school. The game almost isn't worth mentioning. This was the alumni game, and the show was set up for the alumni mostly. But I once again performed pregame. To this day, I've never seen such a beat-down. We won the game against Ball State 63-3. Insane. The week ended quietly, but it was huge news for me to be able to march full-time. Mom and Dad said that it was an answer to a prayer. I think it was.

Auburn vs. Western Kentucky University (W 37-14):
This game was similar to the lost one because WKU was not much of a threat to beat us. We had a high school honor marching band to join us, and that was a unique experience seeing all the high school kids. There wasn't much to write home about with this game.

Auburn vs. South Carolina (W 48-7):
The whole week leading up to this game, all I heard was how great of a coach Steve Spurrier was. This was the first night game since the Georgia Tech game, and so I was pumped about going to this game. The show that night was absolutely amazing. It was a packed house and the show was very energetic. We played Bohemian Rhapsody to the student section and just had fun with it. The game itself was another beat-down. By this time, I had become comfortable marching pregame and halftime.

Auburn vs. Arkansas (W 34-17):
We had practice as always, but this game was different because this was a "pep band only" trip to Fayetteville. We learned that Auburn had never played five home games in a row. That's pretty punishing. It really didn't feel like five weeks had passed by at the time. I spent the weekend off just relaxing and studying. Good thing, too. The next weekend would be a crazy one.

Auburn at LSU (L 17-20) October 22, 2005:
I have, to this day, never been in such an intense environment such as Tiger Stadium. We pulled into the stadium, only to be greeted with thousands of LSU people shouting and taunting us. It wasn't anything like 'ol Mayberry Trussville. The fans were fascinating- they shouted and cheered along with the band in sync. A sea of gold and purple clapped and sang with the LSU band. To this day, LSU's band is my favorite away band. While they were lining up for their pregame show, we started up our trombone chant. I enjoyed their pregame. The game was very intense. I wanted to win so badly. I became nervous before we marched out onto the field for halftime. We lost a heart breaker, but I was just happy to be there as an Auburn fan. This game taught me what it is to be a classy Auburn fan.