The Observer, March 24, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 21
Worst Case Scenario: Madness
In a convergence that can only be described as providential, the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament fell during spring break. While classes have never prevented this fan from missing games, they did obstruct bracketeering and other such seasonal insanity.
In still more grace from the Big Fan Above, a site near me hosted first and second round games: Dayton. Too bad my two most hated teams, Ohio State and North Carolina, were invited. But the supernatural influence continued, and such oppressive presence turned into sheer delight on Sunday.
First, the evil Tar Heels aimed to subdue the noble George Mason University Patriots, who must have been patriots for Brazil, based on their yellow and green garb, not to mention a few Varejaolicious wild wigs.
However, their cheers embraced typical American city mannerisms: G-M-U-WHAT? Crazy delicious, especially coming from a very Caucasian and preppy student section. Nonetheless, they were loud and persistent, even when UNC jumped out to a double digit lead within minutes of tip-off.
At this point, I concluded that the GMU students needed last year's Cinderella's (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) good luck charm: me. So, I sneaked into their student section and joined the energy, helping the team cut the deficit to 7 by half-time.
All of this – plus my Duke jersey, worn out of spite – seemed to disturb the big UNC fan near me. Big in a literal, football player sense. Fortunately, he was big of heart, too, and allowed me to use his seat after his loss so I could sit at midcourt, ninth row, justifying the [obscenity deleted] money demanded by the scalper for upper level tickets.
For as loud as the GMU cheers seemed during the final seconds of the upset, it was a mere pindrop compared to the roar accompanying the Buckeyes' court entry.
Yet the small contingent from Georgetown responded with a surprisingly loud and Latin "Hoya Saxa" cheer, which none of the Ohio crowd understood – "What rocks!" No, it's not an ironic reference to midwestern ignorance, but rather an expression of admiration for solidarity.
At any rate, the quasi-home crowd got a good dose of it, as the Hoyas dominated both ends of the court throughout the game, warding off every Buckeye run with fittingly steady defense and sound offense, infuriating the Ohio semi-faithful, who lost hope and streamed out starting around the 4 minute mark.
This from the same fans who groan and strain at every call – legit or not – against their team as if they were personally penalized.
That said, at least they didn't mob lone dissenters like myself, who would easily have been digested by the scarlet crowd. Blood stains wouldn't even have shown.
