Rivalry games bring big turnout

A buzz and excitement enveloped Chuck Smith Court at the Mark Twain Center on Thursday night like it has not done all year, as Pack the Stands Night brought season-high crowds for the men's and women's basketball games between UM-St. Louis and Southern Illinois - Edwardsville. "I'm very excited," said spectator Natalie Barnard, senior, secondary education. "This is the most exciting game I've been to in a long time." The athletic department pulled out all the stops to bring folks to the two games against the Tritons' biggest rival. Halftime performances and contests, raffles and drawings for prizes, and activities for the kids all played a big part, but nothing can bring people in like free food. An all-you-can-eat buffet of burgers, pasta salad, corn on the cob, chips, brownies, cookies and Pepsi products kept the fans happy the entire evening, and most of them think that more events featuring the free food would be a great move by the athletic department. "Considering I eat like a mule, it might not be a bad idea," junior Jake Neely said. "It's gone well. The fans are loud. It's good stuff." The food festivities were highlighted by the Del Taco Macho Burrito Eating Contest, of which there was a women's competition at halftime of the women's game and a corresponding one at halftime of the men's game for the guys. In each contest, three band members squared off to see who could wolf down the Del Taco Macho Burrito in the quickest time. Rob O'Brien took the title in the men's contest, and Elly Pini won the women's version. Both won a $25 gift card to Del Taco, but Pini said the fun really came from the pride of beating her band mates. "It was huge," Pini said. "This was a big day for me." UM-St. Louis has aggressively increased their efforts to gain athletics sponsorship this year, and their new partnership with Del Taco is a testament to that. "It's a natural fit for us with our restaurant located right there on Natural Bridge Road," Del Taco General Manager Pat Shields said. "We're glad to be here and glad to be doing things with UMSL in the future." Free t-shirts given away at the gate were another fan favorite, complete with yellow-gold lettering on a dark red background displaying "UMSL" on the front and "Pack The Stands" on the back. Although the free stuff attracted much of the 653 fans at the men's game and 513 at the women's game, many such as Mike Ruzycki, freshman, undeclared, just wanted to see a good game. "I think it was the promise of an exciting game between the UMSL Tritons women and the SIUE Cougars," Ruzycki said of his attraction to the events. An exciting game it was, as the attendance at the game was the highest for any UM-St. Louis women's game, home or away, all season. Not to mention that both games went down to the wire and were settled by one possession. Most of the patrons think that the big crowds helped contribute to the Tritons' stellar effort on the floor, and that it is important that the university continue to do everything they can to promote the teams. "Having fans motivates the team to do better," distinguished alumnus Matt Tesson, senior, liberal studies said. "That will create more people who want to come to the school and play for the school, which will bring in better talent." Freshman Kayla Kinzinger agrees, especially noting how many. "I think they should keep doing this because it gets the team riled up, and there are people here who have never been here before," Kinzinger said. "There's a lot of people, so that's making the game really close." Lisa Brinker, junior, business administration would like to see the promotion extended to other programs. "Obviously this has brought a lot of people here today and got more people involved," Brinker, a junior, said. "Maybe they should try doing a Pack-the-Stands Night for the all the other sports teams besides just basketball so that other teams can have crowds like this once in a while too." The home portion of the basketball schedule is over now, but the UM-St. Louis athletic department hopes that the attendance trend continues as spring sports begin to get underway.