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# 37: A Night in the Garden
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By Maura Madden
This weekend my uncle flew in from Washington State to attend a basketball game at Madison Square Garden. My uncle is not usually such a jetsetter, but this was a special event. In this game, his undergraduate alma mater, St. Joseph's, was going head-to-head with his graduate school, Gonzaga. Yup, it was the Hawks versus the Zags at the Garden, and we were all invited to join him. And I'm not one to turn down Q.T. with the extended Madden Family, so Friday night it was me at MSG.
I'm not much of a sports fan, but take me to a live event, and I get pretty excited. Not as excited as some sports fans Š I don't believe in wearing just a t-shirt in the cold weather in order to prove my mettle, and I have yet to find a team worthy of painting my face for, but I'll cheer just as much as the next guy, as long as I can figure out which team I'm supposed to be rooting for.
As my dad and I entered the stadium, people were already feeling the fever. They were cheering even though we were well out of earshot of the players and the game hadn't started yet. ThatÕs what I call enthusiasm. Most of the younger people were dressed in school athletic gear, while the rest of the male-dominated crowd seemed to favor the blazer/mock turtleneck combo or a button-down shirt, with khaki pants all around. When we arrived at our seats, we found my uncle and my other uncle seated with my cousins in sweet seats, about twelve rows up from courtside. My uncle wore a subtle hat stating his preferred affiliation with Gonzaga. A gentleman across the way was less subtle, sporting a sweatshirt that had the word "ZAGS" written in huge white letters across the front.
Courtside, the men who coach basketball teams wear suits. This is confusing to me. In other sports, like football, the coaches wear casual gear. I have taken a mental note of this. But basketball, well, they dress up for basketball. I asked my dad why, and he told me it's tradition, like wearing tennis whites; itÕs done out of respect for the game. I stand behind that. It's nice to dress up sometimes. And the players all had awesome sneakers on.
"G-o G-o-n-z-a-g-a, let's go!" This was the battle cry for our section. We were seated with the other Gonzaga fans. A small section indeed, compared to the crew from St. Joseph's, which seemed to control most of the arena. But the fans were feisty. A slim blonde woman who was seated right in front of us was so involved in the game that every time something exciting happened, good or bad, she would get out of her seat. And I mean every time. It got so that she would stand up, a second would pass, and then her boyfriend would gently tug on her arm to get her to sit back down.
The game was pretty awesome. I can't describe it any better than that - I just don't have the sports vocabulary. What I can describe is one of the marching bands. A high school marching band was brought in to play in lieu of Gonzaga's own marching band, which I suppose they do because it is too costly to fly the whole band back and forth for every away game. The band was provided with team t-shirts so that their affiliation would be obvious. Our seats were pretty fantastic for band watching. The conductor or bandmaster guy was pretty young, maybe in his twenties. A man of the students, he wore a backwards baseball cap, a gold chain, baggy jeans, and the XL size team shirt. When there was a break in the action on the court, he would jump up and get the kids going. Each time, his reaction to the break suggested a sense of great urgency. His eyes were bulging and he looked like he was screaming at the top of his lungs without making a sound. "Let's go, let's go!" he would yell as the kids scrambled to get their instruments in order. But once they were up and playing, his conducting technique was loose and exaggeratingly relaxed. He sort of kicked back and cocked his head to one side, a pose that seemed better suited to driving a low-riding vehicle than conducting a high school marching band.
But the cool appearance did not reflect a rebellious musical selection. They played the same tunes everyone always does. Why do they have to play the same songs over and over again? Look, I like the theme to Rocky as much as the next guy, and "Louie, LouieÓ gets the crowd going, but why can't they throw in some sweet indie rock anthems, orchestrated for high school marching band? I'm thinking "Web in Front" by Archers of Loaf, "Motor Away" by Guided by Voices, "13 Monsters" by Lightning Bolt or "Mannequin" by Wire. Am I right? I'm sure I heard "Louie, Louie" at least three times before the end of the night. There are other songs out there, but the bandmasters don't seem to know that.
In the end, the Zags lost the game. I'm not sure what the point-spread was, but it wasn't great. So we piled out with the crowds that cheered for St. Joe's the whole way out, and I felt a new fondness for the sporting life. The event is over but you still get to cheer? Now, that's something I can get behind. |
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