FanPost

Notes From the Student Section vs. Creighton


For those of you that don't know me, I am currently a Junior at Marquette and consider myself to be a pretty big Marquette basketball fanatic. (School work tends to take a backseat when there is a game on) With that being said, these last three home games of the season are going to be a trial run for this column I will be attempting to write. After any game people are so bent out of shape, looking up stats and breaking down every aspect of the game to numerical precision. Instead of that, the focus here is going to be on the environment of the game itself in an attempt to create a visual for those who were not able to attend. So without further ado I bring you the first installment of "Notes From the Student Section."

Well that game sucked, not only was it a loss but it was a rough game to watch with a foul being called on nearly every possession in the second half. Anyway, now that my obligatory "officials were terrible" rant is out of the way my game day started at 3:30. It was such a nice day I decided to get to the Bradley Center "early." In years past for a game of this magnitude two hours wouldn't be considered early, but for every game this year, students have been showing up later and later. Now, I cant directly attribute that to the product on the floor as it was a Wednesday night game and mid-terms are fast approaching but it just seems to be a common theme this year where one only has to show up less then an hour early to get a front row seat in the student section.

As the crowd made their way in (most not until right before tip-off) the upper bowl was barely filled. The official attendance was 15,539 which really was not that surprising considering the fact that it was a Wednesday night game, even though it Was Creighton. While the crowd may have lacked in size it made up for it in intensity. I was pleasantly surprised with the noise level when Marquette was making its runs. The crown was going, the players seemed like they were feeding off of the energy level in the BC but then McDermott nailed a 3 point dagger with 2 left on the shot clock at that was pretty much all she wrote.

Highlights:

  • Seeing Scottie Pippen, OJ Mayo, and Zaza Pachulia at the game. Despite the fact that it may be a down year its still nice to see legends like Scottie at a MU game. (I would like it to be known that I was the only one who was able to get him to smile)
  • Crown intensity: Touched on it earlier but it did seem to make a difference during the game.
  • Jamil trying to pump up the student section by provoking more booing after another horrid call. (Ok maybe I wasn't done ranting about the refs) Looking back on it now it really surprised me that he didn't get a T.
  • Did I mention Scottie friggen Pippen was at the game?
  • Usually I'm not a fan of booing but it was very appropriate last night.

Lowlights:

  • Well the result obviously.
  • Attendance of the crowd: I'm aware its a Wednesday night game but this is a message to all other students. Get your butts to the games. Time management is key and there should be no reason that the student section is not filled for a game like Creighton.
  • Creighton fans. They brought big numbers, Ill give them that but their behavior was absolutely despicable. I was really excited to see them in the Big East because of their tradition but their fans were brutal. Just an example, when Marquette was making one of their runs and the BC was going nuts McFlopper hit the dagger 3. A lot of their fans behind the bench (mind you all middle aged) turned to the student section to taunt us for cheering just seconds before. One poor soul also decided it would be appropriate to flip off the entire section followed by a polite "Sit the eff down." I really hope all of you feel better about yourselves for taunting 18-22 year old kids.
  • My new nickname for Doug McDermott is McFlopper. I dont think an explanation is really necessary but his display was worse then Lebron's, Manu's and Bosh's.
  • The couple rows of students who started a "Eff the Bluejays" chant an hour before tip off. You're better then that.
  • Just to add insult to injury I went to go drown my sorrows with a Slurpee after the game but of course, every flavor was not working.

That concludes this first edition of "Notes From the Student Section" Hope you enjoy it and see you all at the Bradley Center next Thursday the 27th when your Marquette Warriors play host to Georgetown.