Friday Game a Magical Experience

OH what a night that was.  Where to start?

There will be another post about the game.  But first, we need to talk about the Stroh.

After the game, after the immediate and powerful, drug-like rush of victory subsided, the most common thing I heard and saw from Falcon Nation was that the experience was like being at Anderson Arena again.

And it was.

We don't say that because we like to live in the past.

We say that because Anderson Arena was AWESOME.  The single best college sports environment I have ever been in. Not good.  Not great.  The best.

It wasn't just the place.  It was the people.  And the place.

We haven't had it again like that since the move.  Actually, to be fair, we didn't have it for the last few years at Anderson either.  Because it isn't just the building.  You need a team to cheer for and you need the people to respond and go crazy and then you need a building that makes that work and you can do what we did in Anderson.

And what we did in the Stroh last night.

I've covered games at Cameron, the Dean Dome, all the Big Ten, VCU, & a half dozen NCAA tournaments, and what was at Stroh tonight was a legit college hoops atmosphere. If the community shows up like that, this will be one of the toughest mid-major buildings in the NCAA.

— Nick Piotrowicz (@NickPBlade) February 2, 2019

This is why we love sports.

Here's the thing.  The Stroh was designed to capture the things that were great about Anderson.  It isn't as big as it could be.  It isn't in the round.  It was designed to make what happened last night happen again.  Seems like it worked.

I have always said that fans wouldn't develop the emotional attachment to the Stroh that they had for Anderson until we were playing a big game and the other team was coming down the floor and we're on defense and our guys are pounding the floor and the crowd is chanting DEF-FENSE.

We have now been there.

Next Saturday is Toledo.  Thank you to the schedulers.

Too often in the past, we managed to get even a decent crowd and then we lost the game and we don't really see them again.

Last night, we rewarded them and they will be back.

Thank you to the players and coaches.  They get up early, they work hard, harder than we can imagine, and last night was a gift to all of us.  We thank them and we are so proud of them.

Thanks to the students who came out and rocked the place.  And thanks to the community for backing the team.

It was unforgettable.  Probably in my Top 10 Falcon sports experiences, and I've been going a very long time.

Enjoy the ride.  Hop on.