For many years, my husband had a tradition of taking our son and two friends to the Monster Jam at the Sun Bowl. He always bought the tickets in November for the March show and gave them to our son for his birthday. In the past, I was very happy to stay home in the peace and quiet and hear all about the loud time they had. The boys would come home all fired up, yelling loudly and wearing a monster truck on their heads. Usually, their favorite, Grave Digger, came up with the big win and all was well in their worlds. Last year, my 8 year old daughter joined them for the first time and she loved it. Her only regret was going to the bathroom and missing the finale of the Freestyle event.
This year, I decided that I wanted to join them. It was going to be our little family of four at the event. Learning from past years, we parked a car close to the Sun Bowl earlier in the day. We had my Dad drop us off at the Sun Bowl at 6:45 and we were on our way. Quick stops for beer for the adults, snacks and souvenirs for the kids and we were in our seats, ready to go. Not many people had ear protection but I brought my ear guards and was happy that I did! Those suckers were loud!
The Sun Bowl was packed to the gills. There wasn’t an open seat anywhere. Even the upper corners of the stadium were full. The show started and we were able to Fan Vote for our favorite. We really felt like we were contributing and everyone was having fun. Then IT started… The WAVE! We stood up when we were supposed to, waved our arms and screamed. After about 5 times around, my daughter wanted to know when we were supposed to stop. Good Question! I told her I wasn’t sure, it usually just fizzled out.
Now, I know this isn’t an El Paso phenomenon, but this thing started in the 1970’s and we are STILL doing it! This cracks me up because to me this is So El Paso! I have been to many other events in different venues, but somehow El Paso owns this thing. You can’t go to an event at the Sun Bowl and not be part of the Wave. It’s fun, it’s entertaining and it’s a tradition! The trick is not to spill your beer on the person in front of you!
