So I woke up this morning as I do on any morning that I have to go to work, feeling like, UGHHHHH, yet thankful that I was able to wake up and that I have a job to go to. I knew that there was supposed to be a special ceremony for the students who have perfect attendance for the first half of the school year. I heard that there were supposed to be some representatives from the New York Mets coming but I didn't really sweat it.I love sports and I am a fan of New York, so I will support any New York sports team. I grew up really liking the Mets and was super duper in love with them in '86, the year that they won the World Series against Boston (BOOOOOOO!!!!!) when I was about 11 years old. (For those of you who don't know, New Yorkers and Bostonians have the biggest sports rivalry known to man.) As I got older, I eventually grew to like the New York Yankees because they were doin' their thing in the late 90's. Still, I enjoyed attending Mets games and still do attend 2 or 3 each year.
But I digress....... Nevertheless, I heard about this special assembly and also knew that I would probably not be able to attend because there were not enough students in my class that had perfect attendance that would allow me to bring my entire class down to the auditorium. To my surprise, I received a phone call in my classroom at about 8:45 with a message from the principal that I (not my class) needed to report to the auditorium. I had no idea what I was in for when I got there. One of our best student vocalists was having trouble hitting the high notes of The Star Spangled Banner and the principal asked if I could give it a shot. The problem is that I am an alto and I too were having trouble hitting the high note. A sistah was not trying to strain her voice because my gig was the very next night. Well, I changed the key. I began singing in a lower key but my fellow colleague who was playing the keyboard could not make the adjustment. He suggested that I sing a cappella. Hey, anyone that knows me and has heard me sing could probably tell you that I feel right at home singing that way. So I was like, "KEWL, no problem, my man!"
So 12:30 rolls around and I happened to be around when this large group of people entered our school. There were police and school safety officers everywhere, but through the crowd I could see Tom Glavine, Carlos Beltran, and Xavier Nady. There were lots of other people from the Mets organization, from their media relations and marketing departments down to the team mascot, Mr. Met. I must admit, I was a little star-struck. Anyway, the show must go on. At approximately 1:00, our ceremony was about to begin. The 3 Mets players were escorted into the auditorium, receiving loud cheers from the nearly 400 students that occupied the seats. Everyone was asked to stand for The Color Guard processional and my singing of the National Anthem. I received a rousing ovation and several looks of satisfaction from my principal, assistant principals, and many others including a couple of reps from the Mets' media relations department. Our school pep squad and steel band performed their hearts out. What was especially cool was that the steel band played "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and the Mets players absolutely loved it and were seemingly intrigued by the skills of these middle school students from little ‘ole Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
By the end of the assembly, I was approached by the two reps from the media relations department about singing the National Anthem at Shea Stadium. In addition, they also asked the principal about having our student steelband perform as well! WOWWWWW!!!! So in the words of the Pointer Sisters, I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it, OH YEAH!! I will definitely keep you all posted on my Shea Stadium debut. Hopefully I will see some of you there!
