Last Saturday I went to photograph the newly created "Sparky’s Stampede" for a journalism class.
The march, designed to get students more involved in athletics, starts at the Student Recreation Complex and ends at the tailgate center at Wells Fargo Arena.
It’s led by Sparky, followed by cheerleaders and band members with fans bringing up the rear.
I arrived around 2:30 p.m. thinking that would be just enough time to get a few shots in before the parade left the station at 2:45 p.m.
There was just one problem from what I could tell: Nobody showed up.
I honestly thought I was in the wrong place. Unfortunately, I wasn’t.
Originally thinking I was to be greeted by 100 or 200 screaming fans, I was instead shown one mascot sulking, 10 fans wondering if they were lost too, and five cheerleaders with painted on smiles doing the same dull routine on end.
By the time the “stampede” finally began, a few more stragglers arrived and pushed the head count to a whopping 20.
What’s the lesson here you may ask?
Know your school.
Why on God’s green earth did I think ASU students would forgo sipping Coors Light to walk a mile in 118-degree heat?
Yeah, I dropped the ball on this one.
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
