Judging by the pre-game commotion – all those purple shirts, the undeniable “buzz,” the wonderful clamor created when more than 4,000 partisans pack a homely gym – Northwestern students wanted a blowout.
Except it wasn’t just want. Students want iPod nanos. They want easy A’s. They want hot dates with bottles of Grey Goose.
Want? No, they expected a blowout Wednesday night. Or, at the very least, a convincing win.
That’s what happens at a school of mostly bandwagon fans. They come out for teams riding five-game winning streaks, teams with swagger, momentum, chemistry and all that other intangible miscellany that good teams supposedly have.
Wednesday, they came to watch the Wildcats take on Penn State, which won just one league game last year (never mind that it was against NU). The Nittany Lions haven’t won in Evanston in four tries. Heck, they haven’t won a road game in the Big Ten since 2001.
In the Penn State game notes, there’s a column of blurbs titled “Season Superlatives.” One of the blurbs reads, “Penn State Wins First Opener Since 2000-01.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t superlatives supposed to be, you know, super?
Basically, Penn State’s pretty lousy at basketball.
Penn State beat NU 65-61.
Talk about a letdown.
It’s a shame, because this town and this student body were ready to embrace their basketball team. Both student sections were filled to the back row (and the entire west side actually stood for most of the second half). There were more NU fans in sections 110 through 114 – traditionally the visitors’ side of the arena – than there were Happy Valley homers. And on several occasions, the place got so loud you could actually feel your adrenaline bubbling inside.
But the home team’s night off to an inauspicious start: in the first five possessions, there was a layup attempt that got all backboard and no rim, a missed a 3-pointer, a turnover and an offensive foul. It was sloppy, crude and exactly what those in attendance weren’t expecting.
In short, the Cats blew it. They blew not just the chance for a 3-0 league start – they haven’t done that since 1968 – but their chance to reel in new fans and keep them enrapt, at least through next Saturday’s game against Illinois.
Wednesday’s game was a reminder that the men’s basketball team is not quite as poised, disciplined or talented as we thought. All that excitement, that buzz? Temper it, because one impressive road win doesn’t translate into a quantum leap into Shangri-la.
If the players can take any consolation, it’s that they just experienced the reality of life in the Big Ten. Good teams lose, bad teams win, and in the early-going of this wild and wacky conference, no one has a clue who’ll beat whom, who’ll finish where, who’ll shock the world. The season’s not over.
NU fans will better understand their team when they see how the Cats respond to this setback. A road victory at either Wisconsin or Michigan would win back some hearts – maybe even the fan that called the team “chokers” on his way out. Or the one that muttered, quite irately, “They’re losers.”
The bandwagon’s emptying – and sadly, that statement’s not a critique of the students. It’s just what happens when a basketball team fails when it can least afford to.
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
