MARCH 6, 2010 – East Oregonian (Our View)
Eric Florip
    Friday morning, I heard something I’ve never heard at a basketball game before.
    With a little downtime at this week’s Class 2A state basketball tournament, I took in part of a consolation-round game between Western Mennonite and Salem Academy. Western was starting to pull away in the second half, and the boisterous blue-clad crowd to my left could feel it. During one timeout, the students started a familiar chant:
    “We’ve got spirit, yes we do! We’ve got spirit, how about you?”
    The Salem Academy faithful answered back the same. The two sections threw the cheer back and fourth for the duration of the break.
    What came next was a little different. Their team still down, the Salem Academy students started their own cheer:
    “We love Jesus, yes we do! We love Jesus, how about you?”
    Western Mennonite answered in kind, again prompting an enthusiastic back-and-forth effort. The two sections got louder with each turn.
    The cheer brought a smile to my face, and some applause from both sides of the Pendleton Convention Center crowd. Thanks for both schools for showing there’s more than one kind of spirit out there.