If you have been to an athletic event on campus you have probably seen the lunatic fans painted blue and white, screaming their hearts out for the school they love. Now some of those fans are trying to give back.
Seniors Jeseph Meyers and Paul Hutchings have been working with the Student Association as Athletic Liaisons to gain support for the school's athletic teams. They have set up numerous events for students that exemplify their passion for Buffalo athletics.
The first scheduled event was a trip to the football game at Penn State last weekend to watch the Bulls take on the Nittany Lions. The journey to Happy Valley began with three vans carrying 36 students and left Alumni Arena at around 5 a.m.
The day was filled with traveling, tailgating and football, with each road trippers returning with lasting memories. Meyers, a marketing major, considered the event a huge accomplishment.
"I think it was a complete success, it was great to see 36 diehard fans show up at 4:45 a.m. for a Buffalo road game," Meyers said. "We represented well and even got in the heads of a few of the Penn State faithful."
Hutchings, who is getting his degree in communications, believes that experiencing the atmosphere at Penn State, a school with decades of tradition, left something to aspire to here at Buffalo.
"It's a hope of what I would love to see Buffalo become," Hutchings said. "Of course it has taken many successful years for Penn State to get there, but I can see that, one day, Buffalo will be just like Penn State. The tradition and alumni support they have is unbelievable."
The two seniors hope to build off of the success of the Penn State trip. They have many things planned for the Bulls' upcoming home game against the Baylor Bears and are hoping to organize more road trips.
"We will be tailgating starting at 1 p.m. for the Baylor game (that starts at 6 p.m.). We want as many students out in the lots as possible." Meyers said. "The main goal is to turn UB into a football campus on game days. We will be grilling, playing Kan Jam, playing football and having fun. Setting up an electric atmosphere for when we head to the stadium as a crowd."
The duo is also hoping to set up other trips to follow their beloved Bulls.
"We hope to travel to Syracuse and possibly at least one Mid-American Conference game," Hutchings said. "We feel that the Penn State trip was the first step to showing the University that there are a lot of students who want to go out and support its athletic teams."
The possibility of tailgating and traveling to road games became a reality when the Student Association decided to fund their efforts. Many other groups throughout the University are also supporting the two students.
"Along with SA, other groups on campus have been involved in supporting us, and we hope that even more will join in," Hutchings said. "Because in turn, we are doing this for the students. We started this all on our own, and SA has been grateful enough to bring us under their wings and willing to support us in whatever we throw their way."
Meyers and Hutchings hope the support from other groups will continue, even after they graduate. They are in the early stages of building enough support so that the University will have its own organized student section run by SA.
"One of our projects is building an actual student section. We plan to have something organized and recognized throughout the MAC," Meyers said.
Meyers and Hutchings hope that students respond to their proactive approach to being a Bulls fan.
"We have hope for the future that we are working towards and we hope that everyone will join us, and it starts with everybody wearing blue and coming to this Saturday's game." Hutchings said.
Both students feel that it will be a huge step for Buffalo if the game sells out on Saturday, and that it will show the local community that the students can support their teams. The biggest thing Meyers stresses is to have students come to every game and not just the home-opener.
"I think the biggest thing we can tell people who go to those games against Pitt, Temple and Ohio is that UB performs (well) with a crowd behind them," Meyers said. "When the stadium is loud, the team gets excited. Some people say that they don't go to games because we don't win, but I think people need to see that if we go to games, the teams more certainly will win."
Meyers and Hutchings hope to come back to Buffalo after graduation and see national power houses performing in front of thousands of fans every game.
"In ten years I hope to see tradition and great support from alumni," Hutchings said. "Of course this is a continuous journey, but I want to feel like it was these years, when the football and basketball team - and just Buffalo sports in general - began to be recognized and I can say that I was a part of the beginning of something new."
Any student interested in the group and who wants to be informed about future events can contact Jeseph and Paul at ubfans@yahoo.com. Meetings will be held the first Wednesday of every month to discuss road trips, ideas for home games and chants.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
