I had the pleasure of spending most of yesterday afternoon at Franklin Field watching the Penn Relays. And, judging from the people I walked past along the jammed lower concourse, I have a feeling that most of you who are reading this column right now weren't there. Which is unfortunate, because you missed a pretty good time.
I watched more high schools than I can count run around the stadium. Some of them were from nearby, some were from far away. A good few were from my hometown of Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, although my high school wasn't one of them.
But, knowing where most Penn students come from, there's a pretty good chance that I watched your high school at some point during the day. There were entire heats with schools from New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
And plenty of teams were from right here in Philadelphia, each with their own vocal cheering sections. The girls' 4x400-meter relay was particularly entertaining, with many of the local fans on their feet screaming for Simon Gratz High School, Overbrook, Dobbins/Randolf Vocational Tech -- the winners -- and more.
I watched John F. Kennedy High School, from New York, race Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, also from New York, and both finished in less time than my luggage will ever take to get through the airports named in their honor.
I watched Long Beach Polytechnic High School, the Southern California school which has its name written multiple times in the Penn Relays record books, blow away the field again, distinctive high socks included.
I watched Ballou High School, from southeast D.C., which has been much more renowned recently for its gun violence than its sports program, win a 4x400m relay race.
And of course, I watched Penn compete in multiple races, which in and of itself should be enough to get you outside on what was a spectacular day to be in a stadium -- especially one with a lot of well-shaded seats.
Really, though, I just watched. Because the best thing about the Penn Relays, as a Penn student, is watching everyone else get excited. Whether it's the anxious runners jammed in the paddock, or the small groups sitting outside playing cards or stretching or the crowds getting jerk chicken and sunglasses on Walnut Street, there is always something to see.
I know many people had papers to write and exams to study for and whatever else.
But that didn't stop a whole lot of people from going to Spring Fling last weekend, did it? A ticket to tomorrow's races will set you back the same amount it cost to see Wyclef and Reel Big Fish last weekend.
And, yes, I know what the biggest difference is between Penn's two premier spring events. I promise, you can have plenty of fun in life without that.
The best thing about sports is that nobody knows what is going to happen. You can say the same thing about Survivor or The Apprentice, but you know that, most of the time, that stuff is taped already when you're watching it on TV.
Real suspense is watching the anchor leg of a hotly contested relay make its way past the curved end of Franklin Field, with the fans whooping and the crowd near the finish line rising en masse.
Honestly, I'm not even that much of a fan of this stuff most of the time. But there's something really special about the Penn Relays. Only at this country's largest outdoor track and field competition do you miss at least two 4x100m relays just going to the bathroom.
So, if you're a sports fan, you owe it to yourself to get to Franklin Field as much as possible over the next two days. Because, like all great sports events, just being there is half the fun.
