Friends, let’s start out with a little…storytelling.
As most of you who are familiar with The Viking know, we cover all Paly sporting events by dividing up into beat teams. Each beat team is responsible for covering a sport for the entirety of its season and currently, I have the honor of being on the baseball beat. Now, some people can’t stand watching a baseball game. I LOVE Baseball. And I’m just going to put it out there that as a whole, they are the most attractive team on campus (congrats, gents).
Anyways, there I am, sitting with my little laptop, video camera and other equipment, furiously typing up the game recap when the inning ends, and a sound fills my ears. A sound so disharmonious, so unnecessary for human ears, that it essentially sounds like geese attempting to harmonize. I notice the general populous looking around, exchanging glances, kind of in a “what is that?” manner. And then out of the corner of my eye, I spy a DJ table, the culprit of the madness. It is blasting a mashup of every new and awful Rihanna song, combined with aspects of Van Halen, Justin Bieber (I kid you not) and others. It makes my weekly serenades to the shy but appreciative Grant Shorin (’13) sound like Grammy nod quality.
I had an inkling that this music selection didn’t sit well with the team. However, I was wrong. It turns out the DJ is the father of Drake Swezey (’11), a graduated player who now plays at Santa Clara University. Jack Witte (’12), who has been with the program a long time, doesn’t necessarily find these songs as discordant, but in fact, a gesture of dedication.
“[Even if] I don’t like all of it, some of the songs get us pumped up,” Witte said. “I really appreciate what he [Drake’s dad] does, even though Drake graduated he still does it for us and he doesn’t even have to be out here.”
To be quite honest, that wasn’t the reaction I was looking for when I sat down to write this column. But that’s both the beauty and the burden of journalism: a lot of times, a story throws a curveball (no pun intended) at you. Jack honestly gave me a new perspective. Yes, the music is a little…well, not my style, or most people’s for that matter. But it’s the gesture that matters. Actions speak louder than words, and that is certainly true for Mr. Swezey. So as much as I wish he would bump some different jams from the speakers, the point is that he is taking the time out to support the Palo Alto Vikings at something they do great, which is play baseball.
So thank you, Mr. Swezey, on behalf of all Paly fans. Maybe tone it down on the Jbiebs though…not exactly the best vibe to set, if you know what I mean.
Until next time…Scheel is out.
