The cheering of the crowd, the music of the band, the blast of the cannon after each score — all of these things can be heard from any seat in Bakersfield College’s Memorial Stadium during a football game. These sounds represent a kind of school spirit that has been around for decades. However, the bleachers are not the only place these things can be heard from.
From start to finish, the sounds of Renegade football radiate out into the surrounding neighborhoods. What does the general community think about this? Is it like experiencing the atmosphere of the game without the price of admission? Or is it a weekly headache that must be endured?
What better time to find out the opinions of the surrounding majority than on one of the biggest games of the season, Homecoming. This is a day when the stadium fills with current students, former students and non-students alike to watch the Renegades play at BC. The stadium is packed and the crowed mentality is one of excitement and eagerness to cheer on their school to victory at the top of their lungs.
The closest residential street to the BC stadium is University Avenue. The street, adjacent to the college, not only is it bombarded with the sounds of school spirit in the stadium, it is also pressed right up against several school parking lots that fill with eager fans ready to make some noise.
“I think it’s great,” said Matt Deroo, a University Avenue resident of eight years. “It doesn’t bother me at all. I use to live near Garces, so I am used to sounds like this.”
Luis Contreras, a young resident in the neighborhood, enjoys the sounds of the game.
“We like the sound a lot and we love to watch the games when we can,” he said of his family. “My parents like it a lot, too. None of us have a problem with the sound there.”
Through the course of the game, the consensus of nearby residents is that most people like the sounds of the games.
“It’s to the point I don’t even notice anymore,” said Jose Magana, as he was interrupted by a cannon blast. “I am so used to it by now. It’s the parking I don’t like. Someone is going to get really hurt there one of these days.”
While many residents weren’t at home the night of the game, some were home at the next closest section of homes in the area, the College View Apartment complex at Mount Vernon Avenue and Christmas Tree Lane. These apartments are located just northeast of the stadium but are just as bombarded by the same sounds. This area of the community seemed to have the same positive reaction to the sound that carried to their front doors.
“I used to love to go to the games, but haven’t gotten up there in quite a while,” said Jason Adams, who lives in the apartment complex. “I don’t mind it at all. It actually sounds really good to me.”