Name the Living Mascot

Go to the athletics website right away and vote to name our new, living Chesapeake Bay Retriever mascot. Save the poor fellow from being stuck with the name "Champ."

Vote (preferably for "Grit") here.

Tales from the America East Championship Game

UM-BC UM-BC UM-BC 1-2-3 GO BIG DAWGS! WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF! So as most of you know, the UMBC Retrievers clinched the America East Conference championship this past Saturday with an 82-65 win over the Hartford Hawks. It was a sold out game, televised on ESPN2. The RAC was packed full of cheering fans, all waiting to see their Dawgs/Dogs make it to the Big Dance...the NCAA tournament. THEY DID IT!!! What an amazing game.

My day started bright and early. After getting two hours of sleep, I headed over to the RAC at 7am to hang with the pep band as they did two morning news spots courtesy of channel 13 at 7:15 and 7:45. I heard about this news spot via UMBC Underground, which had encouraged people to show up and cheer with the pep band. I showed up, as did five others, including Spirit Czar and True Grit. It was a tad chilly, but it was fun. After those festivities were over, I went to breakfast with some of the pep band (kudos to Jon for inviting me). Have any of you ever ridden in a car with someone who is just learning to drive stick? Thank God for seatbelts! Actually Jon did a pretty good job all things considered. Upon getting back to campus, I quickly consumed my eggs and pancakes, picked my seat (the good thing about getting there early...you get the seat you want), and helped spread Growl Towels throughout the student sections. By this time it's around 930...facepaint time!! A black paw on my left cheek and UMBC in alternating black and gold letters on the right. Props to the girls who were helping me with this...not sure who they are but after a couple of attempts, we got the UMBC worked out.

10am...students are lined up outside the entrance to the court, cheers of "UM-BC!" can be heard, growing ever more enthusiastic as the Retriever fever builds. Once they're let in, the students swarmed the seating areas, everybody figuring out where the different seating sections were, and trying to find their friends. It appeared as though the first 1000 maybe 1500 people in got free tshirts. Let the school spirit commence! Growl Towels and "Go Retrievers" foam sticks were provided. Face paint and body paint abounded, and there was plenty on hand for those who didn't show up painted. I caught up with my friend Caitlyn, painted her face (half gold and half black, with the opposite paw color on each cheek) then we proceeded to paint most of the people around us. It started small, coercing a few people into getting facepaint, but soon people were lining up, all with different requests for painting. I lost track of how many people we painted.

As the seats began to fill up, and people were hesitant to leave their seats for fear of losing them, we moved throughout the bleachers on our side of the room, painting faces, arms, hands, etc. Armed with black and gold paint andGrowl Towels for wiping our hands between colors, we spread school spirit. The paws were the most popular, then half and half faces. It was easy to tell the people who hadn't done facepaint before...they were nervous but eager, asking for just something small. Many times they did it because their friends told them to, even though they were hesitant. We reassured them that it would easily wash off with soap and water.

Some students were willing to go all out and paint their whole face to show support for their retrievers, people like Brian D, Caitlyn, and others who came looking for facepaint. Others like myself and Michelle were a bit more conservative, but still joining the fun. Some people asked to get their arms or hands painted, generally under the excuse "I have to go somewhere after this" or "I have to go out tonight". Then there were those who, although sitting in student sections, had the audacity to show up displaying very little school spirit. *cough Brian O, Eric cough* These folks soon they weren't going to get away with that. I quickly demanded they submit themselves to my wonderful facepainting skills, and they wisely acquiesced. The most interesting part of facepainting was when an older gentleman asked me to paint a paw on top of his bald head. It made me laugh when one kid asked us if we were facepainting for free, and then almost kissed me on the cheek when I was done painting him, he was so excited. (The kiss was a cultural thing, I'm familiar with it from visiting my friends in Mexico).

Let the games begin! The players were introduced, we cheered for our starting lineup, and the ref tossed the ball. Hartford got possession after tipoff, and made the first shot. We quickly answered with a three pointer, Hartford made another two, and that was the last time they would see themselves in the lead. After the first five minutes, it was clear that UMBC was there to show Hartford how the Retrievers play basketball. For the rest of the game, UMBC's lead never went below nine points. The fans were incredibly excited, cheering our hearts out and killing our voices in support of our Dawgs/Dogs. By the last six minutes of the game, we were shouting "NCAA!" , "Warm up the bus!" and singing "Na-Na-Goodbye" to the Hartford fans. They had been less then enthusiastic throughout most of the game, but I guess when your team is down by an avg of 13 points for most of the game, it's kindof hard to cheer with any real hope.

Around the three minute mark, fans in the bleachers started moving down onto the track and into the lower student section in preparation for rushing the court at game's end. It was obvious that the game was ours, and we were simply playing for kicks and giggles at that point. As the game was ending, and the clock was expiring, the fans started running out onto the court...but wait! There's 0.7 seconds left! Get off the court! I wonder if they did it on purpose...Once the clock officially ran out, we rushed the court and the excitement was uncontainable. They played "Alma Matter" but of course noone knew most of the words, and for some reason they didn't put the lyrics up on the information board. The cheers of the fans so were loud they barely heard the announcer say "Please clear the court" so they could do closing ceremonies. I joined with some of the Mama's Boys in singing "We are the Champions" and spreading it through the crowd. Back up on the track, we watched the Retrievers cut down the net, and cheered as our boys were named allstars.

After the game, I caught up with Ryan and Elise and we talked about how exciting it was that UMBC was going to the NCAA and Maryland wasn't, also what an exciting opportunity it was for the seniors on the team. As everyone cleared out, I grabbed my bags and went outside to soak up the sun. Hey look, the pep band has CD's on sale. I'd been meaning to get one for a while, but wait, I don't have any $ on me. Time to run down to the commons and hit up the ATM. After asking a nice older lady with a Hartford shirt on to watch my stuff, I went down to the commons and flashed a cute smile to gain entrance (only VIPs for the reception were supposed to be going in and out). I let a couple other kids in behind me who were looking to get into the bookstore, ran up to the ATM, then went back over to the RAC and picked up my copy of the Down and Dirty Dawg Band's first CD, then thanked the Hartford lady for watching my bags. I put the CD away, called my dad to tell him where he would find me when he picked me up, and then draped myself across my bags. Towel over my eyes, I relaxed and dozed in the sun until it was time to go home.

Back home I said hi to the family, got cleaned up (I looked like hell by this point, having barely slept all week, much less the night before) and flopped down on my queen sized bed for a much needed nap. I finished out the evening by going out for dinner and a movie with my brother who I hadn't seen or talked to in about a month. We bumped into a friend of mine who goes to Maryland and quickly exercised bragging rights. After getting home and falling into bed exhausted from all the adventures of the day ( I was running on adrenaline all day), I woke up the next morning very pleased to discover my parents had opted to go to the later service at church, partially for my sake.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!! Watch for us Friday as we play Georgetown University in round one of the NCAA at 230pm EST. LET'S GO RETRIEVERS!!!

Many thanks to Zwybak reader pyrodancer for their contribution. Interested in seeing your post in this space? Send an email to com2@umbc.edu.

Men's Basketball Makes UMBC History

This afternoon the UMBC Retrievers made university history by soundly defeating Hartford 82-65 in the America East Conference championship game. Held for the first time on our home turf in a sold-out RAC, the win has given us our first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Notably absent from this tournament are the College Park Terrapins, giving us a unique opportunity to represent our state while thumbing our noses at our local rivals. Read the official press release here.

Congratulations UMBC!

Baltimore Sun: Cheer for this; UMBC Students in the Spotlight

The UMBC community has rallied behind the men's basketball season this year in a fury of school spirit. While students have come out in droves to the RAC, students have consistently left unsportsmanlike behavior at the door. David Steele, a lead sports columnist for the Baltimore Sun, highlights the outstanding school spirit and sportsmanship exuded by UMBC students this season.

In the article, Dr. Hrabowski highlighted the efforts that students have taken to make this positive school spirit a reality on our campus. Jake Steel spoke of the student initiatives throughout the season, as well as in recent conversations with Dr. Hrabowski.

Without a doubt, this type of student ownership and responsibility on campus will go a long way in strengthening shared governance and student involvement on the UMBC campus...

Buses Available for Binghamton!

After going through the Senate and Finance Board, the SGA has approved of $12,000 towards 4 fan buses going up to Binghamton for the Men's Basketball game. Right now, 2 buses are about full, so if you are interested in going for just $12 a day, go to the Commons Info Desk to reserve your spot on one of the buses.

Vote for AEC Player of the Year

Two of UMBC's players have been nominated for player of the year in the America East Conference. Anybody can vote so long as they enter their name and email address. Both Jay Greene and Brian Hodges are representing UMBC; however, you are only allowed to vote for one.

http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1399016&DB_OEM_ID=14000

Men's Basketball Goes to Binghamton!

For those who haven't seen the Facebook group, there are talks of sending buses to Binghamton next weekend for UMBC students to support the Men's Basketball team as they compete in the America East Tournament as the #1 seed.

http://umbc.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10472784618

The SGA has been trying to work with Athletics, RSA, and other organizations to make this happen. There is a proposal, that must go through the Senate and Finance Board first, to fund buses to go up to Binghamton, relieving students of this cost. However, there are still questions of liability (whether students can stay over night for the next day's game), handling of tickets, and how to get students on those buses.

After funding 3 tailgates this year, I'm really hoping that funding a trip for students to watch the team play will really make an impact on school spirit at UMBC. Please keep your eyes and ears open for updates on this amazing opportunity.

*UPDATE - 3/4/08*

The SGA Senate voted unanimously to provide $12,000 towards 4 fan buses for the Binghamton trip this weekend! The legislation will go through the Finance Board tonight at 5:30pm, and if passed there, we will have the capacity to send over 200 UMBC students to support our Men's Basketball team.

UMBC WINS

UMBC: 71

UNH: 68

What a game - go Retrievers! I have never seen the RAC so full of people as I did tonight. There was so much energy in the room and it felt wonderful to have so many fellow students cheering our team on along with me. I'm sure a lot of the other authors here and on other sites are going to have a lot to say about the complete experience so I don't want to steal too much of their thunder. However, the official athletics site is a little slow on the uptake with these wins and somebody has to put it out there on the internet.

Congratulations to the residence halls for putting on such a display of support - here's to making this a tradition for years to come. I believe Patapsco won but I always get it mixed up with Potomac so I'm going to try to avoid embarrassing myself until somebody else can verify for me. Potomac produced an outstanding show of support and should feel proud of the massive trophy they will get to display until next year.

A few other highlights: my roommate Matt Basch rocked the drums with the Pep Band, my friend Danielle made it to the top of the cheerleader pyramid a bunch of times, the announcer screwed up his introduction of Baton Stacy, the dance team took their shirts off, and Jen Kent wants to marry Brian Hodges (#24).

Men's Basketball vs. Stony Brook

Come to the RAC and support the Men's Basketball team tonight February 6th, at 7pm! The first 1000 people to show up will receive free t-shirts. They have been really successful this year and could use the support and a crowd of people cheering them on. There will be an intriguing half time show, filled with talented routines. So come out tonight and show your support, and lead the Men's basketball team to hopefully another victory!!!

Men's Basketball Wins 86-85

I finally made it out to a UMBC Athletics game tonight in a similar way that I made it to a UMBC Theater production - I wasn't doing anything else and just decided to go. UMBC students get to stroll right in for free, which started the experience off on the right foot. The game went neck and neck the entire way, and even though I'm not that much of a sports fan, I found myself on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, and numerous other cliches that suggest I was excited about it.

I was happy to see a respectably-sized crowd mostly comprised of UMBC fans, who did a wonderful job making lots of noise during Hartford's free throws while silencing the room during UMBC's. I wasn't able to spot True or Trudy Grit, although that may have been because I was a bit late into the arena.

Just into the one-minute mark, Hartford brought the score 83-85, and a few timeouts and some running around later, there was no change but only about 3 seconds left to play. Suddenly, the heavily guarded Brian Hodges made a 3-point shot, winning the game for UMBC 86-85 in the final second. What wonderful way to end my first game experience!

While by now I'm relatively certain that folks who read this space are also familiar with some of the other UMBC-related outlets, and have heard their urgings to support UMBC athletics, I feel compelled to add my voice to theirs. Even if you're not especially into sports, it's a great way to hang out with a few friends and get a healthy dose of school spirit. In addition, there are some rousing music numbers from the UMBC Pep band (aka the Down and Dirty Dawg Band), performances from the lovely ladies (and one guy; I loved the handsprings) of the Cheerleading Squad and Dance Team, and some first-rate baton-twirling from Stacy Kabalevsky (?), who, while she appears to share a name with the famed composer, is fantastic in her own right.

As a side note: Athletics, please put more information on your website about your spirit personnel - they deserve just as much recognition in that space as the athletes.

UMBC Basketball vs. Morgan State TV Game

Hey Everyone!

This is just another reminder to go out and support the UMBC Men's Basketball team this Thursday, November 29th from 7:30 to 9:00pm at the RAC arena. The team is currently 4 and 1 and doing extremely well! Also, this is going to be a televised event that could get our school some publicity and recognition that we deserve.

Check it out!:
UMBC underground posted an article on their website about this event: http://umbcunderground.com/2007/11/26/the-dog-pound/

Basically, the goal is to start a new UMBC athletic tradition. They suggested that everyone meet early at 6pm so that we can get the seats behind Morgan State’s Bench and all sit together cheering loudly with a lot of spirit and intensity!

UMBC Spirit

Some say we've lost it while others say we have never had it. Yet last weekend, it was both the womens' and mens' basketball opening nights and the spirit was more than present. As I entered the RAC 30 minutes early for the womens' game, I was like a bit worried that my excitement of bringing friends from other schools and showing off my school would be for no good reason. Yet at 7:40 p.m, after the opening routines, the game began and crowd rushed in. This being my very first game attended in the RAC, I sat closest to the team, not realizing we had a "Dawg Pound." Well that section of the stands was completely full with students wearing their yellow and black. As I looked around the crowd, I noticed that nearly all the stands were full with people wearing yellow and black. Both the dance team and the cheerleading team were present the entire night. UMBC played extremely well showing their class and sportsmanship as George Washington was more on the rough side. The game was full of excitement and surprises. It ended with a loss for UMBC by 20 points and a technical foul with numerous other fouls for George Washington.Although a loss, it was a wonderful way to start off the season for the team. Maybe we have lost it or maybe it never existed, but on November 9th, the UMBC spirit undeniably filled the RAC in support of our fellow students.