Macon Madness: Why Aren’t We Cheering?
My friend Roger wrote a really good letter regarding Mercer Basketball- I’m not sure how I wasn’t aware of it until I went to the Mercer Basketball game yesterday. He was actually nervous that he had gotten in trouble when someone from Mercer called him about it.
He wasn’t in trouble.
In fact, the cheerleaders were distributing his letter at the game yesterday.
His complaint? Well, why don’t I just show it to you here, in his words:
Macon, I’m mad. I have a bunch of reasons to be mad, but I am NOT going to sit here and take this newest one.
The way you act at the Mercer Basketball games is unacceptable.
I went to the game tonight and Hawkins Arena was damn near silent! AND IT WAS FULL! If you weren’t turning out to the games that would be one thing. But you come and sit in the stands with your arms crossed, staring at the team like they borrowed $20 from you and never payed it back! There’s no excuse for that. The tickets are not too high – in many cases you can get tickets for free. The concessions are VERY affordable. Our players do not get in trouble. There is NO excuse for how you are acting. NONE.
Tonight the Bears played Furman. We are new to the Southern Conference this season, but Furman is as close to a rival as we have. Remember that heart breaking football loss? We should have been as loud as possible to make sure we beat them in basketball! Nope. Silent.
Season ticket holders, silent. Like they bought season tickets to a funeral. People with floor seats, silent. The only section making any noise was the student section with the band. We sat two sections over from the band and we yelled and clapped and chanted and sang and danced. When the game got close we made noise and beat on the seats.
A woman in the row in front of us asked us to be quiet.
Yes, a person at the game asked us to stop beating on the seats because it was making her vibrate. She should have been either shamed out of the arena or into making as much noise as us!
There was one minute left in the game and Mercer was only up by 2 points! TWO. POINTS. That’s one play! You could count the number of people standing up.
You know when you stood up and started yelling? Free t-shirt time. Yeah when the cheerleaders started shooting t-shirts into the crowd, Hawkins Arena went up for grabs!
Let me tell you something, this team owes you NOTHING, Macon! In fact, you owe them. Last year, this team picked Macon up, put the whole city on its back, and took us to the NCAA Tournament – something I have been dreaming of since I first began to follow the team. Not only did they go to the Big Dance, they won a game for us. And not only did they win a game for us, they beat one of the most storied teams in college basketball history! For a week the entire nation was talking about little ol’ Macon, Georgia because our basketball team stood tall and forced them all to look our way. That week we walked around with a sense of pride the likes of which I had never seen in my 17 years of living here.
And you return the favor by going and sitting, silently staring at the team, as if to ask, “What have you done for me lately?”
They are winning is what they are doing! We are 5-1 in the SoCon. We could quite possibly dance again this year. But the team needs to know we want it. They need to know we are behind them! We need to cheer them through the rest of the season and then through winning the SoCon tournament in March! We need to show that we deserve another trip to the tournament! MAKE SOME NOISE MACON!!
Mercer plays Samford this Saturday. Don’t even bother to come if you aren’t coming to cheer them on. Stay home. I’d rather sit in an empty arena, than sit with people too good to clap their hands and stand up from time to time. I will continue to yell, and stomp and beat on chairs and chant, and sing, and love this Mercer team. And love all of Mercer University Athletics. And love Macon.
Join in. You might have fun. #MercerMadness #MercerMoment
The thing is, he’s totally right. Why would we NOT cheer?! This totally baffles me. You know, we get so excited when thing happen like last season, when we make it to the Big Dance. But we’re not doing our part. Sports players, just like anyone else, feed off of positive energy. It’s like the concept of the 12th Man in college football: “The presence of fans can have a profound impact on how the teams perform, an element in the home advantage.” (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/12th+Man+(American+football)) This is not a new concept, guys, and I venture to say that anyone who goes to a sporting event is aware of it.
Something Roger didn’t address, but I will here, is leaving when the game is almost over. Guys, I know we were up by a bunch yesterday but really? You think the players don’t see this? They’re out there literally throwing their bodies all over the place, sometimes getting hurt, and this is what we do?
I’m going to admit, last night was my first Mercer basketball game this season. It’s hard for me to go with my kids, they tend to want to run around. But if the game is in town, and I am too, and I don’t have my kids- count me there. Tickets are NOT expensive at under $10/game.
And I’m gong to cheer. And I’m going to be loud. I’m going to do my part. I’m a REAL #MercerBear. If nothing else, just remember what this team did for US when they beat Duke. We owe it to them. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll happen again.
PS- To really challenge y’all I’m going to ask this: if there’s a way to get a big group of tickets together, in one section, for those of us who will make noise- would you come? Cause I’m going to ask.
PPS- Also, I had a friggin blast yesterday. This is one of the best events in town and they are family friendly ( I know I said I don’t take my kids, but that’s because mine like to run away in two different directions from me, and then I don’t get to see the game at all). Come on Macon, we’re not asking you to do something painful. Just SHOW UP- CHEER- and STAY.
Love to all y’all,
Molly
