Saturday night I waited in line to use the men's room at Alumni Arena. I waited in traffic after the game for about 10 minutes. Sitting with my friends in the second half, I waited amongst a throng of people just to get out of the arena.
And I loved every minute of it.
Six thousand one hundred and nineteen people showed up to watch the UB men's basketball team take on Northwestern. It was the biggest crowd to watch men's basketball since they hosted the North Carolina Tar Heels two years ago (the way their season is going it's a shame we do not play them this year).
For the few readers who were not in attendance, allow me to paint a picture for you. All student sections were packed. The sideline bleachers, the end-zone bleachers, and of course The Bull Pen. In fact, there were many people sitting all the way up in the orange level - they probably had to dust off their seats.
The capacity at Alumni Arena is 8,500. However, that figure includes the end-zone bleachers near the visitors' bench, which were not rolled out for this game (nor any game since UNC). So I would imagine that 6,119 was pretty close to capacity and nearly to a sell-out.
Unofficially, the student attendance record was beaten Saturday night, but it was not just the students that made the night special. People in the local community are coming out to watch UB play - and paying! I was told that only orange seats remained the morning of the game.
In a strange scheduling quirk, all of Western New York's "Big 4" (UB, St. Bonaventure, Canisius, and Niagara) men's basketball teams were playing home games Saturday night. I am pleased to report that UB out-drew all of them (granted Bona's gym only holds 6,000 people).
The fans did not come because I wrote an article Friday on attendance. They did not come for the Rope Warrior, or a free seat cushion, or any sort of promotion.
They came to watch UB men's basketball - one of the most improved teams in the nation.
Yes, a basketball renaissance is officially upon us. If only we had won the game ...
There were these two guys who were sitting right behind Empire's Jim Brinson and myself Saturday night during the women's basketball game against Akron.
They had us in stitches.
They had Akron Head Coach Roxanne Allen upset.
"Tough, tough place to play. [Buffalo] has the nastiest fans of anyone in the MAC," Allen said at the post-game press conference. "They are very specific. They call people's name and they are very derogatory and personal. We don't see that anywhere else ... [Buffalo] has some fans here who really are nasty, and that's hard on young kids."
These two mystery fans don't spew obscenities; they are actually quite knowledgeable of the team UB is facing, their players, and their current situation.
"Hey Roxanne, we saved your job," was one thing they would say. The fans were referring to Akron's playoff win here last season, which probably earned Allen a one-year stay of execution when it looked as if she would be fired.
It is these types of comments that bother coaches and players. The truth hurts. Kudos to the guys for doing their homework.
Larger crowds and more student interest bring a different atmosphere to the men's basketball games.
They also bring a new sense of criticism.
From my second half in the bleachers Saturday night, and my conversations with students afterward, I have gathered that senior guard Gabe Cagwin is the general scapegoat for the team's losses ... especially Saturday's. Each time he touched the ball late in the game, and looked as if he was going to shoot, a collective groan went up from the crowd.
To be fair, Cagwin plays good defense, and his hustle is unparalleled ... but I cannot blame the fans. When you miss shot after shot, barely getting rim on some attempts, you are going to draw the ire of the students.
However, it is not fair to cast all the blame on Gabe. Plenty of players had poor shooting nights, Turner Battle for one. Darcel Williams had just four points and committed three turnovers.
Yet as the games go on, it appears that Gabe loses more and more confidence in his shot. And when you have no confidence, you are not going to make anything.
It is time for Gabe to start passing the rock until he finds his stroke again.
