Cup O’ Joe: Cheering for ol’ HHS

Working at the newspaper, every day brings something new and exciting. Some days it’s a story that piques my curiosity. Other days it’s a phone call from someone that just wants to ask a few questions.
    Monday, it was a phone call from a woman in Long Island, N.Y. who called to talk about the wind turbines in Oakfield initially, but the call soon drifted onto other topics. It’s always refreshing to hear from people from other areas and hear their views on things going on both here at home, and away.
This weekend, the Houlton High School cheerleaders will participate in the Eastern Class C cheering competition at the Bangor Auditorium. The Shires are the defending Class C state champs and hope to earn a shot at returning to the state event.
To accomplish this task, HHS will need to finish among the top six squads in its division. The Class C competition begins at 3:10 p.m. and coaches Julie Dunn and Shari Good would love nothing more than to see the Auditorium filled with the black and white Shire faithful.
For those who have never been to a cheering event, the skills on display by the young ladies and men are a sight to behold. The music is often loud and rocking, but the real energy comes from the cheerleaders on the floor. Having an audience filled with supporters cheering them on is also a big plus for teams that are competing.
I’ve covered numerous cheering events over the years at both the Bangor Auditorium and Augusta Civic Center and have yet to ever be disappointed by the shows. So if you are in Bangor, swing by the Auditiorim to cheer on the home squad.
Speaking of shows, it was a weekend to remember for football fans as both the New England Patriots and New York Giants played in conference championship games Sunday. To commemorate the event properly, a football party must be held, and this Sunday was no different.
I invited a bunch of guys over to the house to watch the Patriots game and it certainly did not disappoint. The key to any successful football party is one-part football game and two-parts game time food. This weekend was no exception with a spread of chili (my own special recipe), a taco bean dip, shrimp, sausages, chips, dips, pizzas and wings.
My wife and kids actually abandoned ship and went to my mother’s house to escape the noise and commotion of a roomful of men screaming at the television, slapping high-fives and belching. There’s always belching. It’s easy to see why she bolted.
The game itself was a tense, back-and-forth affair for New England that wasn’t decided until the game’s final seconds, when Baltimore missed a short field goal that would have sent the game into overtime. In retrospect, I am relieved the game didn’t go to that extra period. Not that I feared a New England loss. Instead, it would have meant even more time to eat, and based on how I felt later that evening, eating more was the absolute last thing I needed.
Fortunately, the Super Bowl is not for another two weeks. That leaves me plenty of time for me to come up with some different food items and more importantly, time for me to digest and work off all the stuff I ate Sunday.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. He can be reached at pioneertimes@nepublish.com or 532-2281.