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

A Small Reminder of Home

I was awoken this morning by the harsh sounds of my cell alarm jolting me out of not just sleep but out of a weekend haze that had been utterly therapeutic. It was two days of utter unproductively and lack of commitment, which, as it turns out, was just what I needed to reenergize me for the final push until Thanksgiving Break. A brief breakdown of how "stressful" my Saturday and Sunday were.

Friday Night: Basketball game vs. Houston Baptist at 7:30 (our regular season home opener). I screamed and jumped until my legs and voice were soar and went back to Straz around 10:00, singing bad love songs at the top of my lungs the whole way home (with other people...not by myself...)

Saturday: Woke up at 8:00 for an 8:30 crew workout. Was utterly SLAUGHTERED by said workout (no comment as to whether Friday night had anything to do with this). We rowed two 30 minute pieces, which other than just destroying my legs, also gave me quite the butt soreness from sitting on that tiny, hard seat. Got back to my room at 11, went to bed for an hour nap....that lasted until 3. Called Dad (like a good little bear cub), went to Cobeen for pizza to celebrate a friend's birthday (official birthday wishes to Dani), then went and saw Dark Knight for $2 at Varsity Theater.

Sunday: Wake up bright and early at 11, go to the Annex to watch the Broncos (another WIN, the week can't be so bad now), cloister myself in the library to spend the rest of the night writing an English paper. Much to my surprise, the paper sort of pops itself out in just over an hour and a half. Go back to Straz, spend the rest of the night doing other work or lounging to celebrate my success.

Basically, the last few days have been perfect, until that damn alarm rung this morning. I know I'm feeling better, both in terms of sleep and this pesky 3 week cold breaking, because I can actually conceive of myself being able to get through the week, which is a marked improvement over last week.

This morning also brought a stunning realization that I made mental note to write of. Back in Alaska, I could wake up every morning, look outside, and no matter what I saw in the sky, I knew it would be cold. Up until now, the opposite was true in Milwaukee. If it was sunny when I woke up that meant sweatshirt and a nice day. If it was cloudy, jacket because it was going to be chilly and windy. Today was the first day that it has been sunny and also brutally cold and windy. From the cozy confines of the Raynor Bridge (where I am currently plopped) the day looks no different from all those perfect summer ones I got to experience in August, but my computer tells me its 32 degrees out.

It's good to be back home...at least in weather.

We have another basketball game tonight against Chicago State, a fact that is doing much to brighten my day. I will be sure to post recap and pictures of both that game and the Houston Baptist one in the next day or so.

One Lost out