MBB : Students wait anxiously outside Gampel Pavilion for rivalry game
Students rush towards Gampel Pavilion at 2 p.m.
STORRS, Conn. — At 1:58 p.m., the Connecticut fans prepared for the mad dash across the street. An event security staff member barked orders not to run, mandating that they walk calmly across Hillside Road once the clock struck 2 p.m.
But a relative frenzy ensued anyway, with students jostling and tussling for space as they jogged across the street to get as close to the north entrance of Gampel Pavilion as possible.
The game between No. 2 Syracuse and Connecticut was still seven hours away, but the UConn fans began assembling outside the arena well in advance. Unfortunately, though, the scramble across the street resulted in a disorganized mess. By the time the crowd was sifted into three separate lines of fans, groups of friends were split up from one another and many people were left disgruntled with the way the situation was handled.
Another group of fans assembled at one of the back entrances to the Pavilion.
‘If I can’t sit with my friends after camping out and everything, I don’t even want to go,’ said junior accounting major Austin Atkinson.
Each of the three lines outside the north entrance contained roughly 100 people at 2 p.m., with more students filling in throughout the afternoon. Many complained at the lack of organization.
When it began to snow about an hour later, the already irritated crowd produced a collective groan.
Students would be allowed into Gampel Pavilion beginning at 6 p.m.
A group of students camped outside of the north entrance on Friday night in anticipation of Saturday’s game. But whether or not you camped out had no affect on their place in line come Saturday afternoon, as students simply rushed across the street with no predetermined order.
Tim Kranz, a freshman allied health major, chose not to camp out. He ended up in the middle line of students outside the north entrance and was even in position with Atkinson, who did camp out on Friday.
‘I would have camped out if both teams were still ranked in the top 5 like they were in the preseason,’ Kranz said.
Aaron Baral, a junior accounting major, was near the front of one of the three lines. A friend came over to him with hand warmers as the weather got progressively colder. The group withstood the blustery winds and cool temperature with more than three hours to go until doors opened.
Baral said this game has been the hottest ticket all season. He expects Gampel to be as loud as its been since he’s been a student here, comparing it to when an unranked UConn team played — and upset — No. 1 Texas on Jan. 23, 2010, in his freshman year.
He said he’s optimistic about Connecticut’s chances.
‘The first 10 minutes will say a lot about the game,’ Baral said. ‘If we get down early, I can see our fans not being loud the rest of the game.
‘But if it’s a close game it’s going to be the loudest game, definitely, of the year, probably of the last 5-10 years.’
Published on February 24, 2012 at 12:00 pm
