Although the dimensions were substantially smaller and the facilities a bit more rustic, Cousens Gymnasium almost felt like Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium last weekend, as the men's basketball team played a pair of thrilling games in front of an enthusiastic, capacity crowd. Two years ago, the Jumbos could not hope for more than a handful of parents and a few disinterested friends in attendance, but recently every home game has brought hordes of bona fide fans, engrossed in the game from tip-off to the closing buzzer.
Senior Dan Flaherty, co-captain of the 15-5 team, provided a rather simple explanation. "We didn't have a lot of fans my freshman year," Flaherty said. "That might have been because we weren't a very good team back then, though."
"Since then, we've gotten some great recruits," teammate, junior Bobby MacMannis added. "Back then, we were young and learning, but we are playing so much better now. People come out because we are an exciting team; it increases our level of play when the fans get into the game."
For the men's basketball team, the turning point in fan support came last year, when they only lost one home game the entire season. That stretch of home dominance included two exciting ECAC playoff games, during which the eventual tournament champs brought in so many fans that even standing room was hard to come by. While the correlation between number of fans and number of wins is evident, it is difficult to pinpoint which came first.
Tufts Sports Information Director Paul Sweeney has noticed an oscillating fan base over the eight years that he has worked here, noting that success usually brings in the crowds.
"Teams at Tufts have always drawn crowds, but it is really based on the success of the team," Sweeney said. "Anytime basketball has a good season and has the potential to make the playoffs, there are big crowds."
The dynamics of the crowd also help power success. Members of the basketball team realize the effect a raucous crowd can have on a close game.
"It definitely gets you more fired up to play when you have a big home crowd," Flaherty said. "It's a two-way street though. The crowd wants to see interesting games. When we are playing at home, it's not only an advantage for us, but it's even more of a disadvantage for the other team."
The team, which has relied on emotion and energetic offensive scoring spurts to win games, finds that their play on the road is much more inconsistent.
"When we are on the road and there is no one there, it is easy for us to do our thing," Flaherty said. "It is harder to play well when it is packed and someone is yelling at you from the stands. When we go to Williams, the place is always packed. That can really take you out of the game."
"On road games we have to depend on ourselves a lot more," MacMannis said. "After a tough loss, we don't always get up like we should. It is a lot tougher without a home crowd."
Enthusiastic crowds and Division III sports do not always go hand-in-hand, but the past year has provided ample opportunities for students to get involved. The women's soccer team, most notably, hosted the NCAA Final Four back in November.
"The entire school came out for the women's soccer team, and that was awesome," Flaherty said. "Who knows when Tufts will ever host a Final Four again? Basically, our big campus activities at Tufts are frat parties. It is nice to have other events on campus like athletic events that all Tufts students can go to."
"I think that was a great showing by the campus at the women's soccer game," Sweeney added. "Tufts came across looking great; the crowd was a huge part of that."
In the past few years, attendance at athletic events has greatly increased, but this is by no means the first time that students and faculty have supported teams.
In 1994, the men's soccer team made it to the NCAA quarterfinals, and throngs of fans followed for the next few seasons. The men's basketball team has also drawn sizable crowds in the past decade, as Tufts has traditionally been one of the stronger teams in New England.
"Cousens is one of the best places to watch small college games," Sweeney said. "Both games last weekend were big crowd pleasers. It's exciting when the fans can bring that kind of atmosphere. It was big-time basketball in a small college environment."
Most recently, in March 1997, the men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after beating UMass-Dartmouth in the opener. After lobbying the administration for transportation, over 500 Tufts students boarded buses and trekked out to Salem State, where they easily out-numbered the home crowd. Although Tufts lost the game 83-63, many of the Jumbos in attendance still remember the day as one of the greatest expressions of school spirit ever seen.
Sweeney also maintains the university's athletic website, which has received a surprisingly high number of hits for a Division III school; in the past week alone, the site landed over 4000 visitors.
"I knew that a lot of parents and students visit the website," Sweeney said. "It's nice to know that people are interested in sports here."
The recent success of the majority of athletic teams at Tufts has brought about a renewed interest among students. Despite this success, student athletes find that they still remain students during the week, and that athletic events only add to the community, and do not take away from it.
"I don't think that athletes are treated any differently here," MacMannis said. "Strong athletics bring out the community aspect, seeing the kids in class and on the weekend playing in games. It makes life on campus more exciting having more competitive teams, and it makes the campus life more enjoyable."
