Ring Out Ahoya: Marquette Basketball Update v. University of Wisconsin

Yesterday was THE big day...Wisconsin-Madison, #22 in the polls, in Milwaukee, at OUR Bradley Center, playing THE Marquette Golden Eagles. Shall it suffice to say that mind mind was blown and will be for weeks to come after last night...let me begin the tale.

A prelude to this matchup. Wisconsin and Marquette are obviously rivals, being the only two BCS conference basketball schools (Big 10 and Big East respectively) in the state. The rivalry is historically rather nasty, with no love lost amongst neither fans nor players/coaches/ball boys/random people associated with the either programs. A popular cry during game day that I will paraphrase to keep this blog family rated is "Buck the Fadgers"...yeah...figure that one out all you savvy adult readers. To compound the drama, last year Marquette strolled into the Kohl Center in Madison and oh so causally ended UW's 28-game home win streak and recent dominance in the MU-UW game. This year we got them on our court: the task? Show that we are STILL the best basketball school in the state.

Now that you know the run-up, let me tell you my part of the story. My basketball odyssey began yesterday at 1:30 when I took my place in the back of the line that had already formed outside the Bradley Center. Some guys from my floor had been there since 12:30...am...as in...the night before. It was a warm and snuggley 10 degrees outside and underneath my undershirt, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, and winter coat I was already getting excited.

Anticipation only built at around 2:30 when Head Coach Buzz Williams (who we all love) came out and shook everyone in line's hand, thanking us for our support. After he went back inside and we all calmed down he sent the ENTIRE team out to high five us and joke around. Highlight of this was when someone laid out a UM Badgers T-Shirt for all the players to wipe their feet on. Wes Matthews got us all riled up by throwing it up in the air and proclaiming that he was about to show his hometown why MU was the greatest (Matthews grew up in Madison and was Wisconsin's Mr. Basketball his senior year, beating out UW forward Marcus Landry...this still rubs UW people the wrong way).

Joe Fulce and Chris Otule greet the crowd

The line waiting game meets with Buzz

With all this excitement it felt like the wait until the 7:00 pm door opening would be quick, but alas, it was not to be. For the next five hours we basically just stood there, finding ways to pass the time (riddles, ordering Subway, a dramatic retelling of the Christmas story while huddled together for warmth). Finally, at around 6:30 they let us in, MU fans sprinting and slipping all over the floors to claim their lower bowl seats and free T-Shirts.

The almost two hour wait inside was a GODSEND. It felt so good to take off all the warm clothes and just sit, especially knowing that I had three hours of standing and jumping ahead of me. Introductions were highlighted by streams of blue and gold smoke and the loudest cheers the student section has produced this year. EVERY seat was full, all the way up to the top of the upper deck. Attendance count showed that there were, in all, over 18,00 people at last night's game, the vast majority of them in blue and gold.

The first half was...disappointing. After scoring the game's fist points, Marquette fell serious victim to an inability to shoot and UW's three point prowess. Only our ability to get to the foul line kept us in the game, MU 27, UW 33 at half.

In the second half we looked like a new team. Defensively the guess hustled their butts off and on offense we scrapped for every point we could get. The point margin stayed within one or two scores for most of the half (which meant the students were jumping, screaming, cheering, or dancing the entire half) until Jerel McNeal hit a 3 pointer at the 5:26 mark to give us the lead. The Eagles held that lead for the rest of the game until the final whistle blew and the whole state knew by a 61-58 margin that the best team in Wisconsin sits between 9th and 22nd streets in Milwaukee.

Not many photos from inside the BC (terrible lighting conditions for my poor camera), but here are two videos to give you a glimpse of the atmosphere.





Finals week starts now...which means One Lost will be hitting the books. That also means I might post more as a way to blow off finals stress.

OneLost out...to the library to hit the books one last time in 2008

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.

Madness hits Marquette

Camera has arrived, pictures are now being displayed in full and amazing cyber-color for your enjoyment

Tonight was Marquette Madness--translation: high school basketball pep rally on crack.

Doors opened at 6- meaning we had to line up outside the Al McGuire Center at around 5:15 just to get a decent spot in line. After snagging a free poster (or two...or three) we got our T-Shirts (yep, another free T-Shirt) and then waited for 45 minutes and the wind and (semi)cold weather. The guys from my floor managed to grab seats in the bottom-middle of the upper deck, so we waited there for another 30 minutes before the actual festivities started.

In a somewhat surreal moment, all the lights dimmed and people in Halloween masks and zombie costumes came down from the stands and did a perfect rendition of the "Thriller" dance. Then, they all took off their masks and who was it? None other than the Marquette Lady Golden Eagles Basketball Team! Very creative and fun entrance. Formal introductions to the players and a 10 minute scrimmage followed.

After learning about the Men's team staff, we were introduced to the players one by one, complete with pillers that shot fire into the air and sm, smoke machine. The school debuted the new video that will play before games, viewable here, along with other info. The team then had a "Dunk Fest," highlighted by a Wes Matthews between-the-legs slam. I stayed for the first half of the scrimmage but bailed at halftime.

All in all, a great event, high production value, and plenty of free stuff. Enjoy the photos.