gamo*phi parade

Here's to Gypsy Boots...

The greatest thing about going to USC was being part of the Trojan Cult...oops, I mean Family...parading around campus with a great sense of Trojan pride, throwing out that victory sign to any friendly face you saw and knowing that it would be reciprocated. At the football games, you were swimming in a sea of cardinal and gold, cheering on the team in the great Colliseum. In reaching back to those moments during the games, I remember Traveler racing around the field celebrating our latest touchdown, the torch being lit at the start of each game, those pokey yell leaders doing their knee march while the Trojan Marching Band played "Tusk". And as important as these emblems of USC were, so were it's fans. You'd have the "USCSYCO" in the front row on the 50 yard line, the sorostitutes in their USC t-shirts-turned-tank tops to the left of the band, the alumni and old rich guys on the opposite side on the 50 yard line, and Gypsy Boots marching up and down the steps hootin' and hollarin' for SC with that crazy bell. Gypsy Boots was awesome...everybody knew his name. As Gypsy would cheer on the Trojans, people would cheer on Gypsy. He would get the crowd all riled up, often starting cheers and waves of enthusiasm. He was a USC steeple. And last Sunday, Gypsy Boots passed away. I'll be quite honest and say I had no idea about the kind of life he lead or what impact he had made in society and the people around him. To be quite frank, I just thought he was a crazy old die-hard SC fan...and please...I mean no disrespect in saying that. But reading about him now...the man is quite an inspiration. I'm not saying he was a saint...and I'm also not saying he wasn't a saint, but rather he seemed to live his life in a way that most people only dream about. He seemed to take all that he was passionate about and just live through that passion to his fullest ability. He went out into the world and shared his ideas and his perceptions of life with others. He didn't care what other people thought, or how other people lived their lives, but he just wanted to give them another perspective of life. Gypsy Boots seems to me like a prime example of someone who lived life to its fullest and that alone makes him an inspiration to me. So goodbye Gypsy Boots and thanks for the memories. Here, here!