I've waited to for the right time to break this out, and now seems like a pretty good time to do so.
The basketball team needs your support. The Bulls have a great opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years, and it starts with a huge game this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bearcats at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. All I ask of you that reside in the Tampa Bay area is this.
Go to the game. Bring a friend. Bring two friends. Have your friends bring a friend. Take your wife. Take your kids (THEY'RE FREE!). Take your kid's friends (THEY'RE FREE TOO!). Bring your kid's friend's snarky sister. Rent a cargo van and bring all the kids in the neighborhood. (With parental permission of course). Be loud. Wear Green. Do whatever you have to do to make the Forum rock. Make the Bearcats hold team huddles at the free throw line because they can't hear themselves. Bring out the ghosts of Death Row. I want all 200 Beef Studs there. I want every single student at the game. It's free, and you have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon.
I want one of those giant heads in the student sections. I want 10 giant heads in the student section. I want a giant Art Long punching a horse in the student section. Don't have a ride? Find one. If you can't find one, post a comment here and we will do our best to get you hooked up. Student have complained about not showing up because the basketball team has been awful. That's all changed now. We need you there. Did I mention they serve beer at the Forum? Now you REALLY don't have an excuse to show up.
This is a team that has exceeded all expectations. Anthony Collins is one of the best freshman players in the country and is our best point guard since Chucky Atkins. He has one of the quickest first steps in all of college basketball, and is starting to assert himself on the offensive side of the ball. Victor Rudd, Jawanza Poland, and Hugh Robertson all have the ability to bring down the house with some monster dunks. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick is emerging as our most consistent offensive player and can score from anywhere on the court. Ron Anderson Jr. is a monster on the glass and does all the little things that helps a team win. Augustus Gilchrist can fill up a box score and has the ability to score 30 on any given night. Shaun Noriega is deadly from three and change a game in just seconds (Just ask Providence.). Blake Nash can still contribute at a high level and score anywhere on the court when given the chance. Even Alberto Damour and Mike McCloskey are worth the price of admission for their antics on the bench.
This team believes in themselves. The chemistry is off the charts. I know if 10,000 showed up Sunday, they would play their hearts out for everyone there.
Be there.
Be loud.
Own the Forum.
That is all.