The Male v. Manual rivalry is notorious for being one of the oldest school rivalries in the country and students from both schools pull out all the stops during spirit week. From the costume themes and decor to events such as Manual’s Ramstock, powderpuff and Male’s bonfire, students go all out in school spirit in anticipation for the big game on Friday. However, what do students outside of the two schools think about the crazy rivalry over the barrel between our two schools?

High School

Many students seemed to want a rivalry as big as the one that Male and Manual have.

“Southern has a rivalry against Moore, but we do nothing fun. I think I’m gonna make a Twitter account to join in on the #roastmas fun,” Tyler Lam (9, Southern) said.

However, the week also slightly irritates him due to how blown up it can be even when he attends a different school.

“The rivalry is very comedic, but sometimes I would like to get sleep without hearing my phone vibrate because of it,” Tyler said.

Another student, Simmi Tran (11, Fairdale), also expressed interest in getting to be in on a big rivalry.

“I envy the rivalry. I would LOVE to have one. Like if Fairdale also had a rivalry with themes and #roastmas I wouldn’t know how to act,” Simmi said.

However, Simmi also felt left out dealing with how big the rivalry gets while not truly getting to relate to it.

“I’m starting to shy away from #roastmas because I don’t have statistics or know much about either school, so I can’t really say much,” Simmi said.

Middle Schoolers

Middle schoolers tend to know less overall about the Male/Manual rivalry. However, some eighth-graders that plan on attending either school expressed interest on soon being a part of the schools’ traditions.

“Me and my friends enjoy reading the roasts every year and seeing all the photos that our high school friends post,” Diana Lau (8th, Farnsley) said. “I like the energy and the vibe from it overall. I can’t wait to actually be in on it.”

“I think that the rivalry/spirit week looks fun compared to other schools. People really do pop off when they dress up at Manual, they take their appearance serious but in a fun way,” Van Pham (8th, Johnson) said. “From the videos I’ve seen, the pep rally looks super cool and I wish my middle school had something like that.”

Featured Image taken by Wisal El Majbri.