“GO OSPREYS!” I was so excited to finally be able to scream those words at the top of my lungs at Friday’s basketball game. It was my first game of the year, well, actually my first basketball game ever, and it was an exhilarating experience. I know many people are upset over the fact that Stockton does not have a football team, but seriously, who needs football? The other sport’s teams are just as wonderful and provide great college bonding, as well as entertainment.
My friends and I were lounging around the common room on a Friday night trying to think of interesting things to do. We went on Stockton’s website to scope out something different than our traditional weekend movie in the Campus Center Theater, when we came across the event: Men’s Basketball – Stockton vs. Penn State Abington. I am not that into sports as much as I would like to be, but I do not mind observing a little competition now and then, so we decided to attend.
The event was free as long as our Stockton ID’s were presented. That was extremely convenient since we were all broke. We proceeded to enter Big Blue’s gymnasium and located a spot in the bleachers to watch the tall men on the team warm up. They all seemed to be very talented, so I knew this game was going to be exciting to spectate.
Once the game started, I found myself yelling along with the rest of the crowd. It seemed as though the goal was to make the opposing team uncomfortable and to get our team pumped up. I think it worked quite well. Stockton was on a roll, successfully performing with outstanding agility. They sure can move quickly. I was completely in awe at how well the team worked together and I would like to think that my yelling at them helped.
Halftime quickly approached and it was time for the cheerleaders to be showcased. The cheerleaders from my high school were absolutely terrible. They were more sluggish than peppy and put me to sleep rather than wake me up. From my experience with boring cheerleaders, I was not sure what to expect. But as soon as Stockton’s cheerleaders started to dance, I became flabbergasted. They all moved perfectly in sync with one another and all sorts of flips and neat tricks were happening on the court. They put on a great show and most definitely psyched up the audience for the rest of the game.
The remaining half of the basketball game was filled with high intensity. The teams were back and forth on scoring points as I continued to bite my nails. Stockton always seemed to be about 10 points ahead of Abington, but anything could have happened with three minutes remaining on the clock. The crowd was screaming at the players, trying to get them to focus on winning the game. The team must have been terribly worn down, but they did a great job at hiding their exhaustion. They continued to score points and prevent the other team from doing so. All the people in the audience were on their toes until the last seconds of the game. Finally 00:00 hit the clock and…… we won!
I think my friends and I will make basketball games a regular event to attend. It was so fun to see Stockton students come together and cheer for our school. I cannot wait until the next game and I hope everyone that reads this blog entry chooses to attend. You will not be disappointed. Once again, “GO OSPREYS!”