Keep new traditions alive

Our rivalry with UNC-Chapel Hill is a long standing and infamous one. In recent years, however, the Tarheels have forsaken our end of Tobacco Road in favor of a school they feel is a worthier opponent — Duke. In light of this, I am here to encourage all of you to join in the Ram Roast on Thursday evening to show the folks at UNC-Chapel Hill that we still consider ourselves formidable foe.

The Ram Roast was started in 2005, my freshman year, by the Senior Class Council, and it is held before both the football and basketball games against UNC. For those who have never had the displeasure of walking through the Free Expression Tunnel with a coat of Carolina blue paint, let me just say it is one of the most nauseous experiences you will ever encounter while here at N. C. State. The smell that pervades campus when the landscaping folks re-fertilize the grounds ranks a distant second.

The Ram Roast is very different from a regular pep rally, which you may have experienced at Homecoming. For one, there is delicious North Carolina barbecue, among other food. Also, student athletes from our different sports teams come out to defend and protect the tunnel, giving everyone the opportunity to socialize and support our school.

In past years, organizers have given away prizes, including autographs from the football and basketball teams. Coach O’Brien usually makes a speech and then sticks around to mingle. Mr. and Ms. Wuf are also on hand to rally the crowd, along with the rest of the cheerleading squad.

Aside from painting the Tunnel red, and then protecting it from being painted blue, the real point of this tradition is to express a less tangible feeling of school spirit and camaraderie. In recent weeks State has come under fire for being less than unified, and I think the Ram Roast is a great opportunity to come together as a school and show share some good-natured hate towards a very deserving, very blue subject.

Although the Ram Roast is still a fledgling tradition, because so many traditions have gone by the way side here in Raleigh, I think it is very important that we seize the bull by the horns to make sure this one sticks — or, in this case, the ram. So consider yourself called out Chapel Hill — even if you don’t consider us an enemy on the field, just know one thing. We just killed some Demon Deacons, and now we’re jonesing for some mutton.

Send Catie your thoughts on the Ram Roast and new traditions to letters@technicianonline.com.