Story by J.Starke

The theplayingcats.com wrap-up for 2006.

The last game of the season is usually emotional as the band members know this is probably the last time they will march and play with some of their fellow band members.  Seniors will go onto college or new adventures in their lives.  Some students will move away and other will transfer to different schools.  But this last game was different.  The emotional level was very high.  Some of the freshman were just as sad as the seniors and they will be back next year!

It's great to be in the band can be heard from some of the band kids.  It has been great.  The band traveled to the capital city for an emotional win over Godby H.S who were the #1 team in the state.  Two spirit buses made the trip along with numerous private cars.

Two days later about 40 band members traveled to FAMU!  Where they joined the FAMU band in a great experience of playing with one of the best show bands in the country, the Marching 100!  The band also enjoyed watching FSU during their practice and they finished up by dedicated their chant to our Wildcats!  Who went wild with appreciation!

Comparisons between FSU and FAMU were being made.  We all must remember that the 2 bands have different styles just like our very own Wildcat's style is different from other bands in our county.   Each band is unique and we all should enjoy and support what's different about each other's band.

There are so many great small stories to tell among the larger stories.

We had the greatest bus driver on our FAMU trip.  He drove to the band room door and allowed us to pack our instruments and equipment without having to walk too far.  A car was blocking his way so he couldn't pass.  He then backed up the bus as if he was driving a VW beetle and back out of the parking spot without touching the curb once!  It was a pleasure traveling with him.  He had his GPS computer on the dash board indicating his position at all times..

As we love our Wildcats someone always has a Wildcat shirt or sweatshirt on.  We must have the best behaved band kids in the 'country' as every keeps telling us how well behaved they are!! Imagine that!  The band kids are great.  On the way to FAMU we stopped in McDonalds in Tallahassee.. Everyone was having a good time.  And then some of the workers at McDonald's started making comments.....  They realized that we were the same Booker T. Washington Wildcats that beat their beloved #1 Godby H.S. just 2 days before.  After a few laughs we received great service at that McDonalds and enjoyed the day in the capital city at FAMU until it started to rain.

The next Friday we traveled to meet the Yellow Jackets in St. Augustine.  We have some of the best fans.  Many fans traveled to see the football team play.  The football team traveled the night before to get in an early practice in Lake City.  The band traveled during game day.  

There were 2 spirit buses bringing fans to the games and many private cars driving along also.  Our 3 band buses had about 4 "escorts" who allowed the buses to keep their convoy moving along at a good pace despite the traffic we encountered.  Feeding about 140 people is always  challenging as many places cannot accommodate a large group of people at the same time.  We sometimes divided the buses and attacked some fast food places during our journey..

Bus #2 had a DVD player and a VHS player... Only the VHS player worked and some of the kids said "what's a VHS tape?" (-:.... Well we found that there was tape of Shrek2 on a VHS tape near the machine so we started playing that... then one of our parents (we all know who(-:.) tried to fix the DVD player... well we had a good laugh...  Well the DVD player didn't get fixed.. and the VHS player no longer worked either... so the kids sang!! Now we know why they are in the band and not the choir! (-:

It's worth getting to the game stadium early for no other reason than to watch the band enter the stadium.  The drum majors lead the band in followed by the drumline, majorettes, dance line, flag line and the band.  The band's entrance never gets boring to watch!  We call it the show before the show.  

The fans at St. Augustine were intense.  I believe that the fans forget it's a game!  Some words were said to the band members that cannot be repeated here.  Perhaps next year we will have to give a heads up as to what to expect at away playoff games.  Yes we will do it again next year. You read it here first.  Some Yellow Jacket fans even sat in the visitors stands trying to taut the visiting fans.  Our Wildcat's performed their half-time show without incident like the pros they are.  It's great to be part of a great organization with great support.  The band buses, spirit buses and football team buses all lined up together.  Just how the Football team, Band and Fans were-together!

The year is not over yet! More updates  soon!