Team spirit declines for men's basketball as the season winds down
by Emily Schmidt, posted Feb. 18, 2008
Even though the MU men’s basketball team has had some positive moments, fans seem to be losing interest as the team winds down its 2007-08 season.
As with any sport, student support fluctuates with the numbers in the Win/Loss columns.
“I have been to only four basketball games this year because they aren’t as fun since we aren’t very good [like in past years],” said freshman Eric Rathjen.
The MU All-Sports Pass was a purchase many students took advantage of this past fall. Season passes were $200, and that pass was good for football and basketball, as well as all other MU sports.
“Basketball doesn’t interest me as much [as football did],” said freshman Mark Reeves. “I didn’t get tickets [for basketball]. I didn’t get a season pass; I used other people’s tickets when they didn’t go to games.”
Fan attendance at basketball games has been especially low this season partly because of the recent suspension of several MU basketball players.
“It’s the true fans that show up to games like the home game against Nebraska for basketball,” said sophomore Josh Banks. “It was right after the suspension of five players, and that is where fans earn my respect. Anyone can cheer for our team when we beat KU in football and are ranked No. 1, but true fans are there all along.”
Other fans are extremely dedicated and involved students. Freshman Leslie Waldschmidt is a women’s basketball student manager as well as a full-time student.
“I think the team is doing fairly well considering the few incidents that occurred amongst the team, and I think the fans do an excellent job of supporting the team especially the student body,” Waldschmidt said. “Even if there aren't a lot of general public that come out to the game, the student section is generally always packed.”
The Mizzou “Blackout” game on Saturday, Feb. 9, versus Texas A&M drew an impressively large crowd of almost 13,000.
The Tigers, who held the lead for some time in the first half, were up 30 to 25 at half time.
However, in the second half, the Tigers lost control of the lead, and A&M took over.
Five minutes into the second half, Missouri’s J. T. Tiller finally scored a basket — the first in the half — but it was no help against A&M, who by then led 40 to 32.
Midway through the second half, Missouri called several timeouts and started pulling back.
That’s when many students began to leave the game.
With a minute remaining, fouls were abundant and both teams banked several free throws. A&Ms Josh Carter, Donald Sloan and Dominique Kirk all went to the line, and brought the score to 77-69 in the last few seconds.
Leo Lyons was the leading MU scorer, with 24 points, with Keon Lawrence at 13 points and finally Justin Safford with 10 points.
“[As far as school spirit goes] my team has never quit on me so I won't quit on my team,” Banks said.
