One of the most important parts of a college sporting event is the student section. This is the section from which the rest of the crowd draws its energy, and it is certainly the section that makes the biggest impact over the course of the game.
Whether it is the fan noise that forces a football team to take a timeout or a basketball player who is mentally taken out of the game by the opposing team’s constant abuse, the fans and their actions can most definitely alter the outcome of a game.
Today the Badger Student Fan Club will be announcing the new name for UW’s men’s basketball student section.
“Okay, I won’t ruin the surprise, but I will tell you to be in attendance on Dec. 4 as your Wisconsin Badgers take on Wake Forest,” head coach Bo Ryan said in the latest email UW students have received from athletic coaches this year.
“The best student fans in the nation deserve a distinctive identity, and next Wednesday you will have one … celebrate the debut of your new name in front a national television audience.”
Ryan has it right; this is a chance for the student section to create a unique and well-known identity. Many people know about the Cameron Crazies in Duke or Izzone in Michigan State, but how many people around the country know about the UW student section?
“The Izzone is the largest student-operated spirit section in college basketball with a total of 953 members,” www.Izzone.com states. “Our mission is to create the most exciting and intimidating atmosphere at our home, the Breslin Center, on the campus of Michigan State University. We accomplish this while promoting a positive image of MSU and its student body. We make Breslin the toughest place to play in the Big Ten and one of the toughest arenas in the NCAA.”
As much as MSU is a hated rival, I’ll give credit where credit is due. MSU is indeed a tough place to play, and this is also something the Badgers should be striving for; with a campus of over 40,000 students, there is no way we should bow out to the Spartans in the race to have the most effective student section in the Big Ten.
In football, we as students have made our impact felt, as Camp Randall is consistently ranked as one of the most hostile places to play due to the extremely large and boisterous student section.
Today, students have the chance of carrying over that same intimidation from football to basketball.
Most Big Ten basketball players will tell you Michigan State, Indiana and even Illinois are the hardest courts to play on; this is because the students there have created a tradition of craziness and an intense atmosphere.
In addition, these schools also allow their students to sit courtside, which is another thing that may aide in helping our students create an even more intimidating presence.
Why is it that the students, the most enthusiastic and loudest fans in the whole Kohl Center, are stuck behind the basket and shoved into the upper deck, while the elderly, whose pockets are lined with gold, sit courtside? I cry foul. UW loves its money, and the old people love their seats, but if Wisconsin is winning, they’ll love the Badgers even more, and the cash will flow the same as it always has.
I think it is about time to give the students the prominence they deserve; c’mon, let’s put the students courtside and really give opposing teams a scare. If the student section is really as important as Ryan, the team and the Badger Student Fan Club say, then where’s the love?
It is time for the students here to show they are a force to be reckoned with and that they deserve those extra-special seats.
However, no matter where the students are sitting, tonight in front of a nationally televised audience, the student section will have its chance to shine. The ACC/Big Ten challenge is a big deal, and with the students there to pump it up, it could be an even bigger event.
It really is up to the students to make the student section into what they want it to be. Students have the opportunity tonight to create their new identity and put the UW student section on the map along with the big dogs in the country.
Seize this opportunity.
