Quite frankly, there’s no better time to be a Buffalo. The maroon and white of West Texas A&M is shimmering with gold. WTAMU has entered its golden age and it’s great to be here.

Here’s one reason why: our football team is getting off to their best start ever. Dustin Vaughan is picking up where he left off last season and is making a great case to win the Harlon Hill Trophy. Lady Buff volleyball, with a win on the road over Angelo State, is in the driver’s seat of the Lone Star Conference early in conference schedule. Men’s soccer is nationally ranked and women’s soccer is the defending conference champs. Even the cross country teams are doing great this season.

Finally, we had Homecoming last week. In my eyes, there’s no better tradition in college than Homecoming. There’s something about asking your alumni to come back to their home away from home for a football game.

I’m always amazed at what sports can do to us. I’ve had people tell me so many times that they don’t know a thing about football or volleyball but he/she will still go to the game just because their friends are there. Sports have a way of uniting us together for one cause: to cheer for one and jeer for the other. But it’s not just the game that becomes a social event; it’s the tailgating, the parades and, yes, the parties. The relationships built in and around, for and about sports is something that binds all of us together for the rest of our lives. We pass on the stories of our college days to our children and our grandchildren. And the stories are always better the 43rd time they’ve been told.

Homecoming is time for us to reflect on the old and hope for the new, and to revive traditions. Which brings me to why it’s a great time to be at WT: the traditions. But not in the way you may think.

On Friday, Oct. 4, I was privileged to judge the spirit competition at Pigskin Revue, Homecoming Week’s premier event (yes, I do love long walks on the beach and yes, ladies, I am single) where the finalists for king and queen were announced. First, congrats to Scott and Hope, this year’s royalty. There was nothing quite like sitting on the floor of the First United Bank Center and getting screamed at for an hour and I loved every minute of it.

There was one point in which I was overrun with tradition: Pigskin, king and queen finalists, the eternal flame, the band and greek life. In sorting through this tradition overload, an interesting thought hit me: why do we love tradition? It’s not just because of the sport. But it was more than that.

Tradition doesn’t have names. It’s not from a hometown and it’s not majoring in history or political science. Tradition is all about the people who participate in it. That’s why we love it. You’re etching your own name in the tradition and history in your own way, doing it with the ones you find close to you. Put it this way, the turnout at Pigskin was fabulous, but everybody was at Pigskin together, as one unit with the people they are close to with one goal in mind: keeping the tradition alive.

So, no, maybe this column isn’t about sports. It’s not about Alex Rodriguez and the NCAA. It’s about relationships and coming together as one. That’s what sports is all about.

As far as I can tell, it’s a great day to be a Buffalo.