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FILL MEMORIAL STADIUM AGAIN-IT CAN BE DONE
Topics: football, Bakersfield College, LIFE, bakersfield, SPORTS, local
Posted by purdueford Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:40:42 PST
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The conversation usually goes something like this:

“Got any plans for the weekend?”

“Yeah, I’m going to the Renegade game Saturday.”

“Wow, I haven’t been to a BC game in years.  I used to go all the time as a kid.  My family had season tickets”

 

A look of befuddlement is usually my reaction.  I too used to go as a child, which is precisely why I continue to go and can’t understand why it is so hard to draw a crowd.

 

“You should go” I enthusiastically invite.

“Yeah, I just have a lot going on.  Does anybody go anymore?”

“We usually get 5,000 loyalists,” I exaggerate.

“That’s sad.  I remember when 10,000 was a small crowd.  My dad said they used to sell it out!” they say.

 

I too remember the constant buzz in the stadium during the 1988 Potato Bowl when we beat Fullerton on the 4^th  down pass.  The “GO…GADES” and “WE ARE…BC” cheers. I still get chills. I’m even proud of the 10,000 we drew to the ‘94 Potato Bowl the “last of the big crowds”.  They say those days are gone.  People have too much to do, too much going on.  There are too many good games on ESPN.

 

I can’t settle for that.  No one can tell me they can have a better experience than my friends, family, and 9,000 (close enough) other fans had last Saturday night watching the Gades wrap up their Championship season at Memorial Stadium.  The crowd was intense, the weather was perfect, the football was unsurpassed, and the tickets were cheap!

Coach Chudy has developed a very good football team.  It is full of local talent including his coaching staff made up of mostly ex-Renegade players.  They all work very hard to put a good product on the field that will make Bakersfield proud. 

 

So I beg you to change your plans just this once.  Your parents took you as a kid now it is time you returned the favor.  Grab your family, your neighbors, and a sack full of Caesar’s sandwiches and head up to the Golden Empire Bowl this Saturday afternoon.  Bakersfield loves a winner and it is exactly what we’ve got.  Now it is time for you to do your part.  I guarantee you’ll only be disappointed if you don’t go.   Don’t forget to yell loud and wear red.  See you there.  GO GADES!

 

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