March 4, 2021 – National Grammar Day | Marching Music Day

Did You Hear The One About The Band Geek And The Football Player Who Met On The Field And Became Friends?

Welcome to March 4, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a handy rule of thumb and band geeks. 

Grammar is a manual for language. With it we learn everything from when to use periods and various verb tenses. But here’s a rule that you probably use without being aware of it. When stringing together adjectives, there’s a specific order in which you need to put the words: opinion-size-age-shape-color-origin-material-purpose. Confused? Don’t be because you do it every day. For example, you could say “beautiful, large, old, green, wooden door.” If you said “green, beautiful, wooden, large, old door” you’d sound like you hit your head. But you already knew that, smarty pants. So celebrate National Grammar Day with some reading or maybe watch a movie. Something like “My Fat Greek Big Wedding.” I mean “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

Not all battles end in victory for geeks. In the 1982 Cal versus Stanford football game in which the Golden Bears scored a touchdown in the last four seconds, one trombone player proved a formidable foe.  Believing that the game was over, the Stanford Marching Band took to the field in celebration, only to be tackled at the 20 yard line by player Kevin Moen.  After five lateral passes and some legendary maneuvers, the famous Big Game ended in a 25 to 20 victory for the Bears.  While Gary Tyrell appeared on the Tonight Show, the trombone player commented that he thought he would be famous for his talent as a musician, not for being knocked down on the football field.  He and Kevin Moen are friends to this day.  On Marching Music Day we celebrate the geeks who make our hearts beat faster in the drum lines, drill squads and color guards. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.


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