Feeling Cluttered

By Charles Guthrie

While the basketball games themselves were excellent, trying to get in the gym and watch wasn’t as great.

It was actually pretty bad. The moment someone walked through the glass entrance doors into Alumni Gym, the person would be unable to move due to the massive number of people crammed into the small space.

What made it worse was on Sunday, the women’s team played directly before the men. This made the already tight area even more constricting for fans waiting to watch the men because the people who attended the women’s game had to try and squeeze through the crowd to leave.

During the Niagara game on Friday, the students were getting too close to the referees. Now after watching the game, I’m not going to defend the refs because I don’t think they did a good job officiating a big conference game. Fans are allowed to show their displeasure toward questionable officiating. But they have to keep a certain distance away from the refs.

In defense of the Athletic Department, it was probably the first time they’ve had to deal with a situation like this. The fans can be certain that the department will take the necessary steps to make sure there is not another debacle like this during the men’s final home stand. At least I hope so.

What happened last weekend cannot take place again.

One thing that came out of the situation was a glaring need for a new arena. Alumni Gym resembles a high school gym, and it has shown that it cannot handle an event of that magnitude.

It would be a step in the right direction for the growth of this basketball program and would make it a much more fan friendly experience for the Broncs’ faithful.