Saturday, October 24, 2009

Our Fractured Fight Song


{To the Tune of the Notre Dame Fight Song}

Bassett is brave and Bassett is bold.
Bassett's a team that no team can hold.
When we fight we fight to win,
'cuz Bassett, you know, just won't give in.
When the last play is run through with ease,
Just for the fans of Bassett to please,
We will sing with all our might
The song of maroon and white ... fight, fight, fight! ...
{repeat ad nauseum}

As all my fellow near-northeast-side El Pasoans will recognize, these are the immortal lyrics to the fight song of Bassett Junior High, unless of course they've changed since 1965 (or more likely -- the official fight song is now sung only in Spanish). Bassett (that school next to the quarry -- McMillan's Quarry, to be precise) is a feeder school for Austin High and is itself fed by Crockett, Rusk and Travis. As a school, Bassett rocked! ... literally. When the quarry would set off a charge and boulders would shower down from the 400-foot cliff face (moving the limestone wall back a few more feet) our classroom windows would rattle and we'd actually feel the seismic vibration through our school desks.

No doubt you're asking yourself, "So what dynamite mascot would earth-shattering Bassett Junior High School choose?" Well, smack yourself on the forehead for missing the obvious ... we were the Bassett "Hounds". That's right, Bassett Hounds! You know -- those docile, lethargic sawed-off Blood Hounds, who (with ears so long and legs so short) are in constant danger of treading on themselves. So given such an "awesome" mascot, is there any wonder we smart-ass seventh-graders found cause to poke fun at Bassett's ferocity as a football powerhouse?

Thus it came to be, as the rest of Mrs Van Slyke's music class dutifully stood and gustily sang of the Bassett Hounds' invincibility, we (a handful of my buddies and I) joined in with a slightly more realistic song of this squat dog's prowess:

Bassett is bold and Bassett is brave.
Bassett's a team that no team can save.
When we fight we fight to win,
But somehow we end up giving in.
When the last play is fumbled with ease,
That's when the coach will fall to his knees.
Then we'll cheer and drink our beer
For the flee-bitten Bassett Hounds ... Bite, bite, bite! ...

Mrs Van Slyke was not amused.

9 comments:

joyce said...

you could probably steal the picture of a bassette over at pioneer woman's website.

joyce said...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2009/09/the_many_faces_of_charlie/

joyce said...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2009/06/a_hobby_of_mine/

you laughed at this one

Bob said...

Thanks dear. I've embedded that last link in the story. Charlie the Bassett Hound has such a rough life.

Jerry said...

The "Bassett Hounds" is a far sight better than the "Terrace Hills Trojans" and all the sniggering that gives to boys in puberty.

Of course, the El Paso school with the most nauseating fight song was the Bowie Bears, man I really hated when we played them.

Gladys said...

The Biting Basset Hounds? Well at least you weren't the Lumberjacks...in El Paso ;)

Bob said...

Gladys--
"You were Lumberjacks, but you're okay ..." I suppose there must be a few mesquite trees there in El Paso that could use removal. Just out of curiosity, what school had "The Lumberjacks" as its mascot? Somewhere in the Burges district maybe?

Jerry--
Trojans, eh? Figures.

The Friendly Neighborhood Piper said...

I had no idea... here's my offering...http://foodndrink.blogspot.com/2009/02/well-folks.html

Bob said...

Beauregard looks like a keeper. Bassetts are great with kids -- very affectionate.