One sits quietly at a long table making notes when suddenly the foundation begins to shake, a deafening noise fills the brain, and total chaos ensues. Rodney McKissic of the Buffalo News has lost his Internet connection, the Empire Sports Network's Jim Brinson has spilled his coffee, and my notes now look as if they were written by a third grader.
Welcome to press row at Alumni Arena. It is game night, and Buffalo's media members are trying to survive another evening in the first row of student bleachers.
Interest in UB basketball from students and the Western New York community has increased this season, no doubt as a major result of the men's team's improvement from last year.
The men are 4-2 at home this season and are averaging 2,314 fans per game, despite having three crucial conference home games during the winter break when students were not on campus. Buffalo averaged 1,720 fans for 13 home games last season, only three of which they won.
"During the break without any students around a lot of people from the city of Amherst, Buffalo, and surrounding areas came to the games and they packed the house," senior forward Robert Brown said. "That was key for us getting W's over the break."
While fans in the bleachers can be pretty loud, nothing compares to the rowdy atmosphere in The Bull Pen. A set of portable bleachers placed behind the basket near the visitors' bench, The Bull Pen debuted to rave reviews at the men's home game on Dec. 8 against Akron.
"[The Bull Pen] was key for us getting back into that game [against Akron]," Brown said. "We were down 17 points and that Bull Pen just started going crazy and we got the energy from them."
The section, created by UB's Student Relations Coordinator Rob Suglia, will double in size when it makes its return to Alumni Saturday for the men's and women's basketball doubleheader.
"You're directly behind the basket, you have great seats. There are trash cans there, and when there's trash cans something is going to happen," Suglia said with the vigor of a professional wrestler. "And the cheerleaders stand in front of you."
"It is for hardcore students only. Students that can't handle it shouldn't go in there. If you're not cheering or you're not hardcore you might be asked to leave. This is for the high-intensity hardcore fan, no wimpy bleacher filler guys ...fans that are going to do their part to create a home court advantage."
"Its all about school spirit, and pride, and hardcoreness."
Students who sit in The Bull Pen get more than trash cans from Suglia's band of cohorts, who are determined to make the visiting team's experience as emotionally crippling as possible.
"We do some research beforehand and we give students some papers with all the visiting players' names and personal information like who their girlfriend is and things like that," Suglia said. "[The fans] pretty much pick on one or two guys and it's hilarious."
Fans in The Bulls Pen will enjoy 13 different kinds of wings from Buffalo Wild Wings. There is also the possibility of being interviewed by the local media, who made the section a hot topic after the Akron game.
"Students were all over the television, the local news, and the radio about The Bull Pen," Suglia said. "We were on the radio and they were like 'what is going on over there?' It was nothing like Alumni Arena has ever seen before. The guy on the radio was like 'you have given the team energy,' I'm like its not me, it's the hardcore fans in The Bull Pen."
The rowdy behavior displayed by fans at all the men's games, which typically come down to the final seconds, have made an impression on Bulls Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon.
"I think that if our students want to they can take control of the whole conference in terms of being a place that's on the map because of the energy and enthusiasm of our students," Witherspoon said. "Once that happens we are going to have a tremendous home court advantage, people are really not going to want to come in here and play."
The coach offered a couple of suggestions for fans planning on attending Saturday's games.
"Its great to see students standing up...and I'd love to see them wear our school colors."
While the men's team has enjoyed a basketball renaissance, the women's team has been struggling both on the court and at the gate this season.
"We're still trying to get more students to come which is why we are storming the dorms," said the Bulls' Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe. "We stormed the dorms for the last doubleheader and I think that helped a lot, just going out and telling them that we want them there."
The men's and women's teams will play their final home doubleheader of the year Saturday. The women tangle with Akron at 5 p.m. while the men face Big Ten member Northwestern at 7 p.m. The Rope Warrior will be performing at halftime of both games and the first 1,000 fans will receive a free seat cushion.
