Remembering the good ol’ days

I remember it like it was yesterday.

After seven years at Galliano Elementary school (kindergarten through sixth grade), I had to move on to a new school for the first time in my life.

The change wasn’t too bad because all my friends were coming with me, too.

But all the Galliano kids were joining with all the kids at Golden Meadow Middle at this big, giant new school (it’s not actually that big), which was causing us all some pretty significant anxiety at the time.

The first day was weird.

The routine was all different.

At Galliano, school started at like 8:30 a.m. and let out at 3:30 p.m. The school was near my house, so I could get tons of extra sleep.

In middle school, we started at 7:25 a.m. and the bus passed much, much earlier, which stunk, because anyone who knows me can attest that I am not a morning person.

But OK, now, let’s get to the point.

My first few weeks in middle school were OK. I made a lot of new friends and I learned things that helped me mature into adolescence and eventually into an adult.

But there were some crazy times, too – including our pep rallies.

I had never been to a pep rally before going to middle school. I’d heard about them, but I’d never really experienced anything quite like I saw on that first day.

We packed our gym – every, single student packed into the small gym like sardines. On the floor were the football players and the cheerleaders. On the stage was our band.

There was music. There were cheers. There was noise – lots of noise.

I remember standing in the back row of bleachers in the gym at the end of the pep rally when the cheerleaders threw out spirit sticks.

Granted, these were painted pieces of wood covered in glitter. But we didn’t know it at the time. To catch a spirit stick meant that you had to practically survive a mosh pit of overanxious 12-14-year-olds. But guess what? Having one made you big man on campus for the next few days.

Now, let’s talk about sports.

Prior to middle school, I never knew much about school pride. There were no sports at Galliano Elementary. We played Biddy Basketball and stuff, but there are no sanctioned school sports in elementary school.

So when my classmates and I got to Golden Meadow, we learned about the importance of being a part of a team sport and how to have pride in being part of something bigger than myself.

The first sports season of the school year is, of course, football, so we dove head-first into the athletic year with the season a lot of people look forward to most.

And we had one hell of a team.

We beat everyone – badly.

With Cody Fillinich at quarterback, Rance Lasseigne at halfback and guys like Brandon and Ian Matherne blocking in the middle, the Lions were mighty and a force to be reckoned with.

I remember going to our first game of the season – a jamboree against our biggest rival, Larose-Cut Off. We won, but it was close. The excitement I got rooting on my classmates was awesome. I remember asking my mom after the game if I could go to the rest of the games on our schedule.

I did.

Throughout the season, our young team matured and played its best football when the games mattered most.

I remember beat West Thibodaux and then Raceland – my classmates and teachers telling me after those wins that we had a chance to win the parish championship.

The last game was a rematch with LCO and they, too, were undefeated. The winner of that game was going to take home the parish championship.

It wasn’t easy. They had some great players on that team, too.

But our speed was too much and we powered past LCO to get the victory and the title.

That was in the fall of 1999.

Flash forward to the present and Golden Meadow hasn’t won the parish championship since.

The Lions had an opportunity last week in another winner-take-all game against LCO, but this time, the Bulldogs got the better of the battle and took home the title.

I went out to that game and as I sat in the press box looking at the students on both sides, I couldn’t help but remember the 12-year-old me with all of my Golden Meadow gear on. It feels like that all happened just yesterday, but it was 18 years ago now.

Those were the days.

Congratulations to the Bulldogs on an amazing season and a parish championship. They have one heck of a team and several really gifted players.

Also, congratulations to my Lions, too. To play eight games and only lose one is a pretty awesome accomplishment.

The real winner in the game will be South Lafourche High School. When the two teams merge together a one, that’s going to be one heck of a football team.

I’m sure the people ‘down the bayou’ will be eager to watch those guys develop throughout the next few years.

Golden Meadow and LCO

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