Michael Adams: Good grades for Marshall

I was told once by my 11th grade high school English teacher, "to write well, you must write from your heart."

Since I can remember, I have loved college basketball, especially Marshall basletball.

I made my way to Cam Henderson Center Wednesday to watch the Thundering Herd. I felt like a little kid. I arrived at 6 p.m. to get a good seat, bought my $2.25 soda and made my way down as far as I could go. Just itching for the tip-off, I stood and watched.

As I was sitting there, I noticed a few changes in the atmosphere. The cheerleaders and dance team made their way up in the stands during tip-off. Students sitting behind the basket and fans on the opposite end of the court received green and white balloons. The student section was full. It was very exciting, with one exception.

Only 4,000-plus fans made it to the arena for Marshall's first round Mid-American Conference Tournament game against Buffalo. That is very low for a conference tournament game. Marshall used to take 4,000 fans with them to the Asheville Civic Center in the 1980s for the Southern Conference Tournament.

Here is my report card for the 1999-2000 season atmosphere:

COACH GREG WHITE: A+. Great job in trying to get the students involved. Signs signed by him were all over campus Wednesday. They advertised the game and told students they could get in free. It worked. He also led his team to a 19-7 regular season record.

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT: D-. Very little effort was made to bring fans to home games. Ticket prices are still too high for general admission seats. A few specials have been implicated to attract fans. Some worked. Some didn't. There is a problem when the team is playing good and an arena that seats 9,000 people has an average attendance of 5,000.

STUDENT BODY: C. This is a tough call because of "White's Wackos." Students have started piling into the arena recently, but in early January and November they didn't fill the student section halfway.

CHEERLEADERS: C-. The balloons Wednesday were a nice touch, as was the continuous movement. This would have been higher if they would have stayed in the stands for at least one half instead of moving after Marshall's first basket.

PLAYERS: A-. Great playing. Good job working the crowd up. A 20-win season was nice, too. Cornelius Jackson continuously waved his arms to pump up the crowd. Bench players stood and waved towels. This is a minus because of road play.

Michael Adams is a student in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He can be reached at adams1977@hotmail.com or at 697-1008.