A moral dilemma

Friday night we all went to watch Coquille play a home football game. It was the first home game we've been able to watch this season, and it just happened to be against the Gold Beach Panthers. The teams were pretty evenly matched, with neither team having a win to their credit so far this season. (The amazing part is that both teams were quite good last year; they both went to state, and Gold Beach nearly took first.)

We got ready for the game, and in keeping with our duties to instruct Marie in all aspects of American culture, we dressed in school colors. I have to say though, that I never felt more like a traitor than I did the moment we walked through the parking lot and I began greeting friends and former schoolmates from Gold Beach. Here I was, a Gold Beach alumna*, and a former Panther cheerleader, all decked out in Coquille school colors. I never thought I'd see the day.

We sat in Coquille's beachers, (a huge plus since it was rainy and the visitors' bleachers aren't covered) and we clapped when the band played, and cheered when Coquille did well. However, I absolutely could not bring myself to follow the cheerleaders "DEVILS" chant, and I don't know that I'll ever be able to get past CHS's wicked mascot.

In my heart of hearts, I was hoping that Gold Beach would score, and truth be known, I'd have been quite happy if they'd won. (But don't you go spreading that around, PAM!) The final score was 7-0 Coquille. I suppose when I have a child playing on Coquille's team, my heart will truly want them to win, but for now, I still have a heart of Gold. (Pretty clever, huh? ;-)

*I looked up the word "alumni" because I can never remember which is singular and which is plural. I had no idea there was a separate word for women, so I thought I'd share this with you.

Usage Note: Alumnus and alumna both come from Latin and preserve Latin plurals. Alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. Coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes. But those who object to masculine forms in such cases may prefer the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnae/i, which is the choice of many women's colleges that have begun to admit men.