Jake Bell
Eng.111
Ms.Burns
9/20/13
Becoming a Fanatic The University of Virginia (UVa) will always a have special place in my heart. Even though no one in my family has ever graduated from there, and I doubt that I’ll be transferring there I will always love UVa athletics. Ever since my childhood I’ve made trips to Charlottesville to watch the Cavaliers compete in many different sports. Even though I was only ten years old I can still remember the first time I ever went to a game, the memory is so vivid because it was the day that became a die-hard UVa fan, and this is how that day went. “Jake, are you ready?” yelled my dad as I was lying in bed. “Get up son it’s time to go, we have to be at the stadium by 1:30”. So I jumped out of bed, threw on my new UVa football jersey that my mom had gotten me to wear to the game and bolted the car. I remember being so excited, it was my first ever football game and I couldn’t wait to get to the stadium. My father got in the car and said “next stop, Charlottesville.” I was incredibly anxious to be there so the drive down felt like an eternity, but an hour and half and, about 25 are we there yet’s later, we were finally on the campus. When we first got there we parked beside this huge orange and blue tent, my dad said “follow me Jake, we’re going to meet up with my friend.” Once we were in the tent, the scent of alcohol and hot dogs smacked me in the face and before I knew it I was experiencing my first tailgate. The friend my dad was meeting up with was Bob, a buddy he grew up with and fellow UVa fan. When we approached him, Bob looked at me and said “Little Dave I’m glad you finally made it to a game”. Dave is my dad’s name, and my dad’s friends always referred to me as “little Dave”. My dad and I hung out at the tailgate for about an hour before we headed to the stadium. On the way I got my first real look of UVa’s beautiful campus. I remember looking at all the beautiful buildings and statues and being captivated by them. After walking around campus for a little while my dad and I finally decided to enter the stadium. We walked through the gate and I remember seeing a sea of orange sitting in the crowd. The stadium was nearly sold out. It was one of the biggest games of the year, we were playing our hated rival Virginia Tech (VT). For a long time I debated between which school was my favorite. All of my friends were Virginia Tech fans but my dad was a UVa fan, this game was definitely the deciding factor. As I watched the team run out on the field the atmosphere was just incredible; the band was playing, the fans were screaming, and the players were jumping up and down waving their hands in the
