Just getting home from a hard fought basketball game. I noticed a distinct split within the fanbase towards the end of the game. What follows is a breakdown of how all of us at the game reacted to the action in the final minute. There were two distinct responses, and every fan at the game did one or the other. Here goes... The Setting: Your team just turned the ball over again as the clock ticks ever so closer to zero. But there is still hope! There are still 36 seconds on the clock (an eternity in basketball) and, after all, the guys have been playing their hearts out all game and trail by only a mere four points. There's the whistle...we fouled them, forcing them to the line. If all goes as planned, we'll get the ball back with 36 seconds - ample time to mount our comeback. But wait...! Whats this I see? (Besides that hot blonde Tiger Girl I've been eyeing all night...MAN, can she shake that ass! :thumb: ) What I see is really quite spectacular. We turn the ball over...and then the whistle blows as we intentionally foul. THEN, every fan at this very moment shows his true colors. I can now clearly distinguish the fair-weather fans from the ones that truly bleed purple and gold. Fan #1 This fan loves his Tigers. But only when they perform flawlessly. This last turnover was just too much to take, and he is absolutely furious. He angrily springs out of his beautiful refurbished purple chair, and storms out, into and through the nearest beautiful refurbished portal, and then down the hall and out the exit, bitching all the way along. Mike watches from his cage as this fan and thousands like him stream out onto campus. From the looks of things, Mike figures the team must have just been blown out by Central Connecticut State. He hears them cursing and yelling. They say things like "By God, it is John Brady's fault, and by God, those kids played like Sh*t tonight!", and things like "We need a new coach" and "we are just the worst fricking team ever in the history of the world!" Fan #1 will be pissed off the rest of the week. He'll tell his buddies that the football team has no chance against Georgia this weekend because we played too poorly against Arkansas. Fan #2 This fan watches in amazement as half the arena empties amid groans and random profanity-laced remarks directed towards the court. He came here to watch his Tigers play basketball. He'll stay till the end of every game no matter the outcome. He knows many others will not...and that's fine with him...but he still wonders how so many can leave this game right now - a game in which the outcome is far from decided. Why won't they stay and cheer the team on? This is the Deaf Dome, right? Houston will get the ball back, and we will need to make some noise. Maybe we'll close the 4 point deficit. Shoot, there's 36 seconds - plenty of time to do it. And, although his Tigers fall one point short to a Houston team that shot rediculously well, he walks out away from his seat satisfied. In a lineup dominated by young players, his team showed glimpses of brilliance throughout the game. He knows it takes time for a young, inexperienced team to gel. He also recognizes that our offense was missing a key ingredient. Once we get our point gaurd back, he thinks, our offense will jump to another level. He walks out to his car dissappointed with the loss, but content that he got to see his tigers play. He hears the Fan #1s bitching. While he can understand their criticisms of players' performances and the level of coaching, he is still embarassed that so many walked out on their team in the heat of battle.
