2008 Woodie Awards
BUC BREAKDOWN: Go, Fight, Win?
Derek Casanovas, Photo/Multimedia Editor"The Victors."
"The Notre Dame Victory March."
"Fight On."
Even the most casual sports fan can probably hum along to the fight songs of institutions like the University of Michigan, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. After a few times through, the melody and words resonate through your mind like Alicia Keys' smooth crooning on the radio.
But the prominence and powerful nature of other schools' fight songs begs the question: where is ours?
Good question. A Whitworth fight song is absent from the gridiron of the Pine Bowl on Saturday afternoon following a long touchdown toss. The fight song is nowhere to be found after a furious 10-point rally has brought the Pirates even in a tight basketball game in the Fieldhouse.
I'd put a Michael Vick-sized wad of cash on a bet that you've never heard the lyrics to the fight song. These words probably don't ring a bell:
For Whitworth Fight!
Fight! Fight and win!
For the Crimson and Black,
The highest honors bring back.
For Whitworth Fight!
Fight! Hear the cry,
"Onward to Victory."
Be not content with less,
Whitworth deserves the best.
So Pirates. Fight! Fight! Fight!
And Win!
It's not as if someone at Whitworth recently jotted down those words. These lyrics are older than Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address and President Clinton's lip-biting denial of adultery.
Our school's student body selected the words Whitworth freshman Harold Eastburg wrote in 1932 for the fight song. In addition, the Eastburg family donated to Whitworth the sheet Harold Eastburg originally scribbled the notes on 75 years ago. There had to be some logic behind coming up with the song at all.
Perhaps it is because fight songs come with the landscape in American amateur sports. Students pre-funk for football games as the belt out the words to "Rambling Wreck" at Georgia Tech University. When a students need new ring tone for their trusty cell phone, they need look no farther than their alma mater's fight song. Years from now as college alumni students may not remember which kid slept through his or her final or who regularly beat who in "Halo 3," but they surely won't forget the words to the school battle cry.
While the lack of a school marching band or a pep band at sporting events makes it more difficult for students to break into a raucous chant or song, there's no reason the fight song can't be added to the school's celebratory repertoire.
Just this season, Whitworth welcomed junior Isaac Lutz as the school mascot at the home football games. Fans have opened their arms to this new character, and would feel something was missing if he were suddenly absent from games.
One would think the fight song would be the same way if it were introduced to fans.
To me, the lack of the fight song being played signifies we don't have respect for our traditions. A fight song gives us pride in who we are and the character we represent collectively as a university. It is as though we have forgotten a crucial piece of our school's history. At each sports victory we celebrate the accolades of the present and forsake ones past.
The fight song was not playing when Whitworth won their first outright conference title and won a last-gasp thriller against Occidental College in football last year.
The fight song was not playing when Whitworth won their third Northwest Conference title in four years for men's soccer this season.
The fight song was not playing when Whitworth won the conference title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament last season.
Nobody is chanting the words to the fight song at the swim meets, where Whitworth has won 53 straight on the men's side and over 10 straight on the women's.
Do we not appreciate what those teams have done?
We can give fans something to stand up and cheer about even if the score doesn't reflect positivity. Something to get up off the bench seats to clap along with and recite the words in unison to during a mind-numbingly cold playoff game in November. It would set us apart from the "I'm languishing in mediocrity" George Fox realm of athletic prowess. A fight song would give us some background music when players show off our school's name with some jersey-popping to the crowd after a big win.
If nothing else, it would give opponents something to hum on the bus ride after we send them home with a loss.
Contact Derek Casanovas at derek.casanovas@whitworthian.com.
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