10 Years of SigEp

Last weekend I went down to Christopher Newport University for homecoming.  I hosted the VA Pi SigEp Alumni tailgate with my friend Spencer.  A few years ago we started going back for the tailgate and football game.  Each year we have stopped by the undergrad tailgate and met the brothers and every year I am more and more impressed with the men of VA Pi.  As a founding father of our chapter I take great pride in what our chapter has become.  This year was no different.  However this year there was not an alumni tailgate, so Spencer and I decided we would offer to host it so the brother who were going to be in town had a place to stop by, reconnect, and have some food.  It has become something that I thoroughly look forward to every year.  This year I was also able to bring my daughter along and let her see her future campus. 

Also this coming weekend I will be heading back down to CNU to celebrate with my brothers our 10 year charter anniversary.  It is going to be the most fraternity events that I have attended in a single week since college.  If you throw in O’Gradyfest which is a bunch of alumni it’ll be 3 events this month.  The only downside to all of these events is that it makes me want more events to interact with the brothers.  I definitely do not take them for granted anymore because each year it seems to get harder and harder to get people together.  But in this week that I am indulging myself in SigEp-ness I thought I would share some of my favorite memories about being a member of this great fraternity.  Since it’s been 10 years, I figure 10 things should be enough.  This also may end up being multiple blogs depending on how long the stories end up being.

#10 – Chapter Meetings: The fun ones.



Sigma Phi Epsilon Founders

Most of the Chapter was boring and just something you went to each week because that’s what you do when you are in a fraternity.  But every once in a while something ridiculous happens and that’s why this made the list.  Its last because it is still chapter, no matter how funny something was that happened.  There are four things that I will cover here and that’s because 11/12 years later they are the only ones that have stuck with me. 

First our chapter made a rule early on that members were not allowed to sing the song Yo-Ho in mixed company.  We felt the song was disrespectful to women and we did not want to make it seem we were going to be that type of fraternity when we started on campus.  Every year there was an event one of the sororities hosted where the fraternities would sing songs to the girls.  I was never able to make it to that event but from what I heard those songs were never “Sweet” songs.  I also can’t say that Yo-Ho was one of the songs other fraternities sang.  But SigEp would sing out sweetheart song and give the girls roses. 

Anyways, back to Yo-Ho.  One night while partying at Jefferson East a brother started to sing that song.  Someone got him to stop before many joined in.  The next day in chapter it was brought up that a brother was singing the song and something should be done about it by the Chaplain.  The brother who sang the song stood up and loudly exclaimed, “WHO SANG YO-HO LAST NIGHT, that song is inappropriate and should never be sang by us.”  Apparently he was unaware that this happened.  As half the chapter started laughing he then said, “This is not a laughing matter, this is serious.”  As he looked at the E-Board and asked, “What are we going to do about this?”  I looked at him and said, “That’s a great question, do you realize you were the one singing the song?”  He then sat down.  I don’t even remember if anything did happen to him for singing it.  I doubt it because by that point the whole chapter was laughing in their seats.

Another event that I don’t even know if it actually happened in chapter, was when Bill Miller showed up at the House after turning over his duties as Treasurer and said, “I ain’t doing shit next semester,” while throwing a deuces sign behind his head.  We found out that the undergrads do this after each chapter meeting now to signify chapter has ended.

The third story was on the day that the heads of the families were coming up with their family names.  Everyone had turned in their names except for one family.  The head of their family was not around that semester.  I just remember Jacob and Matt sitting in the back of the room coming up with names.  The one they settled on was The Number One family.  Everyone in the room was shaking their heads at the ridiculousness of the name.  I actually think it hurt the guy recording them to even write it down.  To my knowledge this family is now defunct.  But watching those two fools come up with crazier and crazier names and then to settle on “The Number One” family was enjoyable.  And if you knew the two guys you would understand just how ridiculous the conversation was that they were having about their family name.

The last story is about our President during my last semester, Matt.  As President we gave our number out to the members so they could get a hold of us for emergencies.  Well even when I was President, emergencies were also apparently drunk dialing you at 2, 3, 4 in the morning.  In a time before unlimited calling and free texts this could cause your monthly cell phone bill to be a bit outrageous.  So when Matt took over as President after my term he eventually changed his number.  He did not find the humor in the drunk dials that I did apparently.  Well when we all realized this at chapter, a few of us brought it up that what a real emergency happened?  How would we get ahold of him?  I even tossed the guilt trip of; it’s part of being the President, at least that’s what I was told when I asked for a portion of my cell bill to be covered by the chapter.  Well by the end of chapter Matt gave his number out again.  I don’t know why but I still laugh about this story when I think about it.  I can only speak for myself, but I don’t think many drunk dialed him after that.  Matt would be the only one who could truly answer that though.  I do know that I received Drunk dials for the next 3 years until many of the guys who were in the chapter with me graduated.  I think I enjoyed them even more after graduation.

#9 – Plaza Big Beers: 34 ounces of glory



CNU Plaza Time

Plaza Azteca is in no way affiliated with our fraternity, but our members did go to this restaurant a lot.  In college we were always looking for cheap beer.  Whether it was the Boulevard on Wednesday night for $3 pitchers of Natty or Plaza for $3 big beers on any night, day, whenever the mood was right.  The big beer is still something we almost feel obligated to order when we go to a Plaza with other brothers.  In some strange game of beer ordering chicken.  Nobody wants to be the guy that doesn’t order the big beer.  These days it might take an entire sitting to finish one, but in college it was a bit crazier, as was everything else in college.  I could tell plenty of plaza stories, but I will stick to two of my favorites.

Big Beer

 

One day two of my brothers and I went to Plaza dinner.  We were getting ready to leave after 2 big beers because one of the guys had to lead the Sigma meeting at the house.  Another guy at the table said let’s get one more beer before we left.  I mentioned it might not be a good idea since we were heading to the Sigma meeting.  Casey said he would pay if we got the third and finished it in time to make it to the meeting.  Well I’m not one to turn down free beer.  Needless to say we ordered it and drank it.  Jason and I left and Casey picked up the tab.  I don’t think he intended to pay for everything.

The last one was actually after college.  It was with some of my alumni brothers though so it still applies.  We were celebrating a brother’s 25^th birthday.  Our goal for the night was 5 big bears in one sitting.  Well apparently we were a little too rowdy while trying to finish our 4^th beers.  The Mayor’s family was also eating there and asked our waitress, the glorious Sandra to kick us out.  Sandra and the owner knew who was asking them so we were asked to leave once we finished our beers.  It almost took the wind out of our sails.  We had set out with one goal for the night and now we were not being allowed to finish.  Well, we got someone to drive us to the other Plaza at Denbigh and got our 5^th beer.  Then went back to the Country Club to hang out for the rest of the night.  It is not every day that you are kicked out of your favorite restaurant by the mayor.

#8 – SigEp Homecoming Tailgates



SigEp Flag

I mentioned most of what I enjoy about these in the beginning of this post.  I am so glad we decided to go to Homecoming in 2012 because meeting the undergrad rejuvenated my love for SigEp.  I started attending more alumni events and getting to know some of the younger alumni and the undergrads.  The best part as I stated earlier was seeing how great the chapter had become, but also learning about so much of the stuff we started in 2003 and 2004 that the chapter was still doing.  Seeing what these guys are doing now in 2014 makes me Damn Proud to be a SigEp.

Look back later today or tomorrow for #7 and #6.  Then the top 5 will follow.  I’d love to hear from some other brothers on their favorite stories in relation to the 3 topics currently posted. 

The NFL Lockout: What to do if it lasts through the Season?

After waking up this morning and getting ready for work I sat down to watch SportsCenter while I ate my breakfast. One of the first stories that they talked about was the NFL Lockout, at this point I am tired of the NFL lockout. What surprised me the most was it is day 100 of the NFL lockout. At this point it hasn’t affected much except for some off season training camps and mini camps. But we are now at the end of June and normally teams come together for preseason camp in July and the preseason games kickoff in early August. This means we are a month away from the NFL lockout effecting the NFL season.

This is a scary thought to many football fans. The reason being what will men do on Sundays, Monday Nights, some Saturday Nights, and eventually Thursday Nights if the lockout heads into the regular season? Let’s focus on Sunday for a minute. Without Football there will be no drinking beer with your buddies and eating wings or whatever football treat you enjoy. Instead men will have to go to Home Depot and work on projects around the house. They might have to do chores like vacuum or mow the grass. Whatever it is we end up doing it will not be as enjoyable as sitting on the couch with a cold beer watching football. So my thought was to come up with things to do if the NFL does not agree to a new collective bargaining agreement and the lockout continues into the season.

1) Tailgate in the Church parking lot after service. Since there is not game to go to we need a place where we can pull out our Smokey Joe’s and pop open a few cold ones. Note: Some churches may frown on this act. Ok this isn’t really a good idea but why not?
How long until I start missing football again: Immediately.

2) Get into NASCAR. The races last about as long as a football game. It might not be 22 guys beating the crap out of each other but every once in awhile Kevin Harvick (or his owner) might throw a punch at Kyle Busch. Plus the Chase starts in September. For those of you who are confused by the last sentence you lose 5 America points, but the Chase is NASCAR’s 10 race playoff.
How long until I start missing Football again: November when the season is over.

3) Start watching the MLB. The great news is there is a game on every night. They are usually cheaper than football games. It’s a summer sport so tailgating is still an option. Plus September is when the contenders start making their runs to the playoffs and well October is when the magic happens.
How long until I start missing football again: October, maybe November if the series goes to 7 games.

4) Watch College football. This is the most realistic option. It’s similar to the NFL just a little slower. If you are not used to watching it the Spread may seem odd. But overall there are games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. Then there are games on from Noon until late into the evening on Saturday on channels from CBS, ABC, MASN, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN U, ESPN 3, ESPN Plus, and ESPN the Ocho. Just kidding about the OCHO.

How long until I start missing football again: December for two weeks until the Bowl games start. In mid January when the National Championship has been played it will happen again. January is where it will hurt the most because if the lockout is still going on we will miss out on the Super Bowl.

5) Play golf. If all else fails grab your clubs and hit the course. It will get you out of the house for four hours and you won’t have to do yard work.
How long until I start missing football again: Depends on how well you play.

Hopefully the owners and the players can come to an agreement soon and we will not have to contemplate these ideas anymore. But the closer we get to August and then September the more it seems this is going to last awhile. I heard an interview with Chris Collinsworth yesterday. He is a wide receivers coach for his son’s high school football team. This cannot be a good sign when the man who calls Sunday Night Football is accepting a job that would have him working in the fall instead of preparing to call NFL games on Sunday Nights.

In other sports news the NBA may be heading towards a lockout in the coming months. The difference is the NBA is really in the red. The real difference being if the NBA doesn’t play next season is that the league may never recover. It will find itself in a similar position to what the NHL experienced in 2005. And that’s all I’ll say about that because nobody cares about the NBA anyways.