Forget Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's college basketball season, the time of year when Duke's Cameron Crazies bust out the face paint, when the "eRUPPtion Zone" bubbles over at Kentucky and when Kansas' Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk puts together random nouns to form a student section brimming with passion.
The difference between Div. I institutions and a Div. III school like Tufts is, of course, the extra "II" attached to our classification. Sports seem to take a backseat to the rest of our packed schedules. I know passionate fans are out there, though; this manifests itself during March Madness when classes are half−empty, half−filled with laptops streaming the first round. But this fandom never translates to Cousens Gym, where live games are sparsely populated and the stands rarely filled with anyone but family, friends and other athletes.
"When we play on the road, there's really a home−court advantage for the other team," men's basketball senior co−captain Sam Mason said. "When I'm playing at home, I don't get the sense that we have a home−court advantage."
Maybe it's the psychological stigma associated with cheering for a Div. III school. Or maybe we need to start a real student section, one that can serve as an outlet for those missing out on getting a little crazy in the stands.
Fear not, hoops fans. The men's basketball team has a solution. And boy, is it a good one.
"We've been looking for a name, and we didn't want to come up with anything like the Cousens Crazies, because I'm not a big Duke guy," coach Bob Sheldon said. "So, because of Jumbo, we came up with ‘The Circus.'"
Welcome to The Circus, ladies and gentlemen, created by Mason and fellow senior co−captain Matt Galvin this past offseason. Can you feel the insanity as students, decked out in clown makeup and oversized shoes, serenade an opposing free−throw shooter with "The Circus Song" while a baseline juggler whips bowling pins through the air?
Consider me Tufts' Uncle Sam; I'm calling you, average Tufts student and ardent basketball fan, to join The Circus.
"It's the only gym we play in where there are seats all the way around," Sheldon said. "It's kind of like a stadium feel. We want to make people fear coming here, to make it the toughest home gym in New England. And I think if we have some sort of gimmick, people will start going crazy."
It's admittedly hard to get excited for a men's basketball team that's won four NESCAC games in the past three seasons, and the Jumbos recognize that. But this is something bigger than wins and losses — it's about emotionally investing in players void of big−money contracts and national TV exposure. It's about becoming a part of something bigger. It's about becoming a part of The Circus.
"Basketball fans don't just go to Duke," senior Ed Bernstein, a pitcher on the baseball team who also works for the Athletics Department at basketball games, said. "People become basketball fans when they go to games."
On Saturday, the men's basketball team kicks off its season at home against Skidmore at 7 p.m. The women open at home on Nov. 28 against Brandeis. T−shirts for The Circus are available, in blue and white, at Cousens for $10 apiece. I picked mine up yesterday; the Jumbo balancing atop a basketball in front of circus tents, designed by Mason's friend, really completes the image.
The goal is to have The Circus out in full force once NESCAC play begins following winter break. Plans are in place for a spotlight to grace the court during pregame introductions. Instead of a white− or brown−out, Sheldon wants to order baby blue clown hair in bulk for a wig−out. Me? I want fire−eating and knife−throwing while a real elephant balances on a basketball.
With a little student help, games will become more than just another thing to do on a weekend. They'll become The Circus. Isn't it about time you signed up?
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Alex Prewitt is a junior majoring in English and religion and a new member of The Circus. He can be reached on his blog at http://livefrommudville.blogspot.com.
