2008 Woodie Awards
Cheers, not empty Chairs.
Chris Osbourne
Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Opinion
The beginning of the March 1 basketball game against UNC-Asheville was amazing.
I've joked before many games with members of the pep band by saying that I didn't want to hear them at the next game - I hoped the crowd would be too loud. Saturday was the first time that wish came true. My friends and I got to the Coliseum parking lot around 1 p.m., and were ecstatic that we weren't the only people there.
Because of my friends' height deficiencies, they like to sit as close as possible to the court. In order to make this happen, we went up to the doors over an hour before they were scheduled to open on Saturday. The rest of the student population was not there yet or drinking in the parking lot.
Keep in mind: the actions of the student section during the last two home losses have been embarrassing.
There were cheers such as, "This is our house!" and "You need Marshall!" from visiting fans. And, what did the Winthrop fans do in response? Continue their journey back to campus.
Byron Faison hit a big three-point shot to bring the Eagles back within 10 points near the end of the game. What did the crowd do? Those few who weren't climbing up the stairs to leave, cheered. Unfortunately, there weren't many people left in the stands - definitely no more than a scarce 50 in the student section.
The actions of most students before the game weren't any better; my friends were harassed because they were in seats that other students felt entitled to, because they "always" sit there. But why didn't they get to the doors early if "their" seats were that important?
We were also pushed after entering the Coliseum so we couldn't sit in the seats that we originally wanted.
We were also told, in a rather threatening tone, that we had "pissed off" this group and that we better be into the game.
OK, message received. But, maybe a sizable portion of the crowd should have worried more about cheering for the team and less about where they were seated.
Chants like "MVP" and "You got Taj'd," before the game, were replaced by empty seats with only five minutes left in the game. What a way to honor the seniors who gave us our first NCAA tournament win and the first undefeated Big South Conference season in history.
I'm almost embarrassed to be a Winthrop fan after these two games.
Winthrop doesn't have real basketball fans.
If it did, more people would be supporting the women's basketball team who are guaranteed to equal the men's regular-season record no matter what happens in their final game against UNC-Asheville.
I've joked before many games with members of the pep band by saying that I didn't want to hear them at the next game - I hoped the crowd would be too loud. Saturday was the first time that wish came true. My friends and I got to the Coliseum parking lot around 1 p.m., and were ecstatic that we weren't the only people there.
Because of my friends' height deficiencies, they like to sit as close as possible to the court. In order to make this happen, we went up to the doors over an hour before they were scheduled to open on Saturday. The rest of the student population was not there yet or drinking in the parking lot.
Keep in mind: the actions of the student section during the last two home losses have been embarrassing.
There were cheers such as, "This is our house!" and "You need Marshall!" from visiting fans. And, what did the Winthrop fans do in response? Continue their journey back to campus.
Byron Faison hit a big three-point shot to bring the Eagles back within 10 points near the end of the game. What did the crowd do? Those few who weren't climbing up the stairs to leave, cheered. Unfortunately, there weren't many people left in the stands - definitely no more than a scarce 50 in the student section.
The actions of most students before the game weren't any better; my friends were harassed because they were in seats that other students felt entitled to, because they "always" sit there. But why didn't they get to the doors early if "their" seats were that important?
We were also pushed after entering the Coliseum so we couldn't sit in the seats that we originally wanted.
We were also told, in a rather threatening tone, that we had "pissed off" this group and that we better be into the game.
OK, message received. But, maybe a sizable portion of the crowd should have worried more about cheering for the team and less about where they were seated.
Chants like "MVP" and "You got Taj'd," before the game, were replaced by empty seats with only five minutes left in the game. What a way to honor the seniors who gave us our first NCAA tournament win and the first undefeated Big South Conference season in history.
I'm almost embarrassed to be a Winthrop fan after these two games.
Winthrop doesn't have real basketball fans.
If it did, more people would be supporting the women's basketball team who are guaranteed to equal the men's regular-season record no matter what happens in their final game against UNC-Asheville.
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