In Fact You're Fanatical

That title is an excerpt from the song "Free Radicals," by one of my favorite bands, The Flaming Lips. This has no real bearing on this post, other than the fact that it is a moderately clever way to introduce a post about the first Marquette Basketball game of the season (the student section is called the Fanatics (get it fanatics...we are so clever here).

So Marquette is a really cool place. Lots of cool people, fun activities, good teachers; an all around great place to be. Basketball games, however, take this school to a whole new level. Maybe its our lack of a football team, maybe its the cold weather, but we all go CRAZY for Dominic James and Co. This season is especially exciting, what with the Golden Eagles being ranked #16 by the AP Poll, the return of what could possibly be the best starting backcourt in the nations, and the debut of our new coach, Buzz Williams. Predictions have us going to the Sweet 16, maybe even the Elite 8; but of course we all know that Marquette is National Championship caliber.

Saturday was just an exhibition, the team's only one of the season, and as you may have read before, we were playing a terribly intimidating and fearsome opponent: Colorado State...Pueblo. Yes, the Thunderwolves are a D-II team, and yes they aren't even that great of a D-II team, but it is a game nonetheless and after three months of not having a football team to cheer for the student body was ready to get behind the Eagles. I got to the Bradley Center around 12:30 for a 1:00 game. This was MUCH later than I would have liked to arrive, but thanks to a late crew practice and the Straz printer's inability to print my ticket I was running a little behind. Luckily, my roommates showed up at 10:15 and stood in line for two hours to save me a front row seat...thanks guys.

Being an exhibition, the game wasn't very well attended by non-students. Marquette games are usually fairly sold out, especially once Big East Conference play starts. They played a really cool video showing Marquette highlights throughout the ages (hearty cheers for Doc Rivers and Dwayne Wade...chorus of boos for Tom Crean). Father Wild, the University President, came by our section and said hi to my row, shaking some hands. I also got to be on the jumbo-tron before the game when the asked us to cheer really wildly for the camera. Forced enthusiasm? Yes. Very cool? Also yes.

The game was a blowout (94-73), through CSU-P was a really good 3 point shooting team, which made them look mildly more respectable. Some excitement at the end when it looked like we might break 100 points, but Buzz did the classy thing and reigned in the offense in the last few minutes rather than adding to the blowout. The team looked great for the most part, minus some spotty defensive play and the occasional rushed attempt on the offensive end. I'm sure its tough to play your game when you are more talented and athletic than your opponent, so I'm banking that when the competition is more even, the team will focus more and play up to their opponent.

The photos should give you an idea of what being a fanatic is like. Toward middle of the game I found a way to change my camera settings and make the photos lighter (thanks Justin).

A lot of standing, jumping, chanting, cheering, and "Ringing out Ahoya" for 2+ hours makes a fanatic tired, so we enjoyed a post-game victory sub at Potbelly's.

Next game is Friday. Its a regular season, non-conference game against Houston Baptist; another cupcake matchup. Nevertheless, you can guess who will be there.

One Lost Rings Out Ahoya with an MU RA-RA...and out.