I’ve already confessed in this column to the one great sports-related heresy of my lifetime — the fact that I attended graduate school at UNC Chapel Hill for nearly a decade and never once went to a Tarheels basketball game. However, there is one footnote to that story which I have not admitted until now. But I feel that the time has come, and my Athletics Anonymous sponsor agrees. The truth is that I betrayed my beloved Carolina in yet another way. While I never set foot in the Dean Dome, I did go to a Duke Blue Devils game once.
If it helps, I did not like it. But the visit did give me the chance to see the legendary Cameron Crazies in action. Proud of their claim to be among the most obnoxious fans in college basketball, the students who crowd Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham show no mercy to players on the opposing teams. Good taste is hardly a priority for the Crazies, whose penchant for off-color chants has put media coverage of the games on a time delay. A “Washington Post” reporter once criticized the fans for flashing signs that read “If you can’t go to college, go to State.” The Crazies responded with another sign, “If you can’t go to State, write for the Post.”
Nicknamed “The Zoo,” the Blue Devils fans have popularized a number of now-standard heckles, such as calling a no-contact shot an “Air-ball.” As far as they are concerned, the Cameron Crazies set the standard for loud school spirit. But it appears they now have some classier competition, since the Rhodes Rowdies have earned for Harding’s Rhodes Field House the designation of the “Best Road Trip in College Basketball.”
On March 2, something very special happened on our campus. It wasn’t just that our Lady Bisons beat Southeastern Oklahoma State 83-69. And it wasn’t just that our men beat the Savage Storm 85-58. And it wasn’t just that CBS was there to film a segment on our team for its coverage of this year’s Final Four. And it wasn’t just that we honored five outstanding senior athletes and a bunch of loyal Bison supporters. And it wasn’t just that the Rowdies kept the energy high for over five hours, with fresh stunts and insanely choreographed mayhem. It was all of the above, plus the fact that 3,000 fired-up fans showed the world that team spirit doesn’t have to be crass, that nothing tops the national anthem sung a cappella and that real community is greater than the sum of its parts.
If you missed it, you missed an event that I do not blush to call “epic.” Everyone was in top form: our band thundering in the background; our cheerleaders (led by graduating senior Hailey Nowakowski) showing their spirited skills; our mascot Buff entertaining us with hoop shots, nose dives and push-ups; our concession stand working in overdrive to fuel the rowdiness. And oh, what rowdiness. A sea of black T-shirts. New synchronized chants. Celebrity guests like Darth Vader, Eeyore and Waldo. Rowdy time-outs. Professional signs. A fan in a ref jersey feigning blindness. Confetti. Floor swimming. Organized chaos. No wonder it all had to be roped off with police tape.
Much of this spirit has to do with the game itself, and the fact that athletics give us all a license to be loud. But such spirit would not exist if the fans did not feel a real respect and affection for the men and women on the court, and for the coaches who lead them. To our graduating seniors — Adam, Matt, Bradley, Zach and Katie — we thank you for the unselfish gift to this school of your talent and character. Along with Harding athletes in so many other sports, you have given our campus teams we can admire and rally behind. And if the rafters of the Rhodes shook a little more than usual on that raucous Saturday afternoon, it was for you.
For my birthday last week, I got a huge Bison hat, complete with fur and horns. So when next year’s season rolls around, look for the Field House to be rocked just a little bit harder. I’ve already booked my seat for March Madness.
