I happened to have one of the best seats for the Final Four in the ECAC womens basketball tournament this past weekend at Brandeis.
Doing stats for WBRS, I sat right up against the court as I watched the Judges defeat Colby-Sawyer College in the semifinal game and then Eastern Connecticut State University in the championship game. What I witnessed was not only a momentous occasion for Brandeis basketball, but also a huge step in making Brandeis into a school that actually cares about sports.
Both games this weekend were packed. Although the games themselves should have been exciting enough to draw fans, spectators came out in droves for the free halftime pizza, the free T-shirts and the WBRS giveaways.
Nine hundred people attended on Saturday and Sunday to cheer on Brandeis, including 650 on Sunday. Both games this weekend featured guys without shirts with "Go Judges!" written on their chests. "Superfan" Allen, as always, was there to cheer on his Judges to victory. Brandeis' mascot Ollie the Owl made a rare appearance on Saturday game. Blue "Louis' Lunatics" shirts were worn by many fans, with the declaration that "Judgment Day Has Arrived" on the back.
Even President Jehuda Reinharz (as well as many other members of the Administration) was in attendance, shooting a free-throw at halftime for a WBRS T-shirt, standing up and cheering the Judges and even declaring during an interview with WBRS that "Brandeis is an athletic university."
Although it was a great weekend of basketball, the greatest time of all was the final nine minutes of the game on Sunday, after Eastern Connecticut had cut the lead down to three points due to some great rebounding. Brandeis responded with five offensive boards of its own over the next 4:40 of play, topped off by a Danielle Fitzpatrick '04 layup which extended the lead back to nine. During this time, Brandeis played great defense (the Judges held ECSU to 18 percent shooting in the second half), spurred on by Allen and their shirtless male cheerleading crew and the crowd's increasing momentum.
In the last five minutes, the crowd started to get loud, acting as a "sixth man" for Brandeis as ECSU failed to keep up any sustained pressure. Meanwhile, the Judges, perfectionists from the free throw line the entire season, hit six big ones down the stretch to seal the deal. "MVP" chants went out for Fitzpatrick after her amazing play not only during this game and the ECAC tournament, but throughout the entire season.
Fitzpatrick and fellow seniors Jayne Wise and Rachel Kostegan got huge applauses from the Brandeis crowd as they acknowledged them in their last game wearing a Brandeis uniform. Chants of "overrated" for Eastern Connecticut and "underrated" for Brandeis started up as the Judges beat a team that ESPN/USA Today's latest D-III poll ranked higher than Brandeis.
When the final buzzer sounded, Brandeis fans stormed the court. A huge circle of bodies were jumping up and down on the court. I finally felt like I was at a real college. People were excited about sports. Brandeis parents and players were crying with tears of joy, while the other kind of tears was shed on the ECSU side. The Brandeis women left the court, only to come back to give hugs to Allen, who followed them all season. And Brandeis players-along with Allen-took turns cutting down the net.
For the first time, coach Carol Simon took off her heels and climbed the ladder to finish the job. There were post game WBRS interviews with Simon, Fitzpatrick and Wise, in which each person responded that they were "speechless" and felt that this was "unreal" when asked how they were feeling. There was Fitzpatrick getting the MVP trophy and the women being presented with the ECAC championship trophy. There were pictures taken of the players with huge smiles on their faces. A die-hard Red Sox fan even said that he felt happier about this win than he would about one from his Sox.
And as I began to realize how my friends at Indiana or Michigan or Duke feel about sports, I began to be proud about being a fan of the Brandeis Judges. I reveled in the fact that Brandeis went from six wins several years ago to a record 22-win, ECAC championship season in my sophomore year. And I was so happy to be sitting on the sideline for so many of their games. My roommate, Jay Hyne '06 and I had a tough time sitting down and doing work even an hour afterward, because of the elation we felt from the game.
I really hope this fever catches on. While Red Auerbach Arena was pretty full that day, there was plenty of room for more fans. Many people did not even know the game was going on, and many others searched for any excuse for why they couldn't come. Many students and faculty won't know until reading the Justice that the women actually won the tournament. And who knows if this will rub off on Brandeis' attendance at baseball and softball games this spring, or even Brandeis basketball games next November.
But for those who want it, there is finally something to cheer for at Brandeis: a nucleus for the school spirit Brandeis so greatly lacks. Although they will lose their best player in Fitzpatrick and their assist leader in Wise, two first-years-Caitlin Malcolm and Basia Grzyb-showed in the championship game that they are ready to step up and compete as starters next season. This year was the ECAC championship, but next year Brandeis should look towards the NCAA tournament as their goal.
For the first time in my two years at Brandeis, I can say I'm proud to be a fan of the Brandeis Judges.