To Indiana We Go!

On the day after Indiana's big win over Purdue, we bring to you a story that warms the heart. Sure, Kelvin Sampson is a cheater and Eric Gordon looks like he may talk with a lisp, but Bloomington sure is a fun place to play. Our very own Alex Kim traveled from Mizzou to IU last weekend to take in their game against Michigan State, who Indiana blew out. Try to enjoy it.

A COLLEGE HOOPS EXPERIENCE
So I just flew in from Indiana. Boy, are my arms tired. Actually, we drove. Some quick highlights:
I-70—This stretch of mostly four-lane highway boasts the largest monument to things the Indians taught the English settlers.

Giant Cross in Effingham, IL—If there is any space on your memory card left after the first half of I-70, be sure not to miss (which you won’t) the 198’ cross, located in the one and only Effffffingham, Illinois. Apparently it was constructed to watch over the some 50,000 who travel through Effefffinngham each day, because you just never know where Tony La Russa is driving.

Snacks—Funyuns and Combos...fuck yeah

Home cooked meal—Eric’s mom asked if I wanted steak, and I said yes even though I was full of like 1,000 Funyuns. I do not regret it.

Tea Leaf Green Concert—Practically sat on the stage for this show. They cranked out some good jams, especially for being visibly under the influence of some metric weigh-ins. The only lame part was how they took about half an hour to come out for their encore. That pissed off enough people that about half the crowd had left.

Hinkle Fieldhouse—Place where Hoosiers was filmed. Didn’t go in, but I was mesmerized by all of its history, like the time 15,000 people watched volleyball in 1987. The rest of Butler’s campus looked like shit mixed with I-70.

Brawl—So where at this party right? And the kegs were gone, right? So we’re like, lets leave. We were headed to the stairs when, all of a sudden, there was a crash! Turns out these guys who were talking shit the whole night in the keg line tried to steal an empty keg. When questioned, he threw the fucking keg at a dude. Aforementioned “guy” was then tackled by aforementioned “dude”, and two of his cronies. Battle Royale! We bolted once random people started getting dragged into the fight. There was also a Jordan Crawford sighting.

But I didn’t drive 400 miles to have a run-of-the-mill weekend in the Nation’s Crossroads. I came because #12 IU was playing #9 Michigan State. Big Ten basketball! Indiana basketball! Eric Gordon and Drew Neitzel! Free tickets! Lets get drunk! Anyways, we left at like 7 for a 9 PM start because IU’s campus is huge as fuck. It took about 25 minutes to walk from the middle of campus to Assembly Hall.

We didn’t have student ID’s, so we were hoping they would just turn the other cheek for us. People filing in very fast…good sign. Some guy looks like he didn’t flash an ID…better sign. Almost at the turnstile aaand….shut down. We headed back outside while Eric conjured up some exchange that got us ID’s. While we were waiting, I spaciously peered towards Fee Street. Hundreds, thousands of red and white clad fans funneled into the opening gate. Fueled by pride and alcohol, “HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-SIERS!” was belted out by students and alumni alike. (Also of note: I saw my buddy Dan collecting money for his frat outside of the stadium. His collection jar was a Tupperware container with a hole, and some of the causes he shouted out were “Pro-life!", “Starving children!” and “Babies!”. Anyways, I got my ID, which I remember saying “Woody” and left my friend and the 25 cents he had collected.)

The place was electric. When the players came out for the shoot around the student section erupted. When IU won the opening tip, the place was louder than Mizzou Arena has been at any point this year.
Pride and tradition are the foundation of college sports, and the Bloomington faithful put on a textbook display. The defining moment for me, especially as a neutral fan, was the response after Neitzel drained a 3 to put the Spartans up 15-4 early in the game. It got louder. The students roared and the alumni stood up. What did the Hoosiers do during this possession? Sent the crowd into delirium with an alley-oop. Pandemonium while down 15-6. Pride. When Gordon stuffed Neitzel’s 3 and ran down court for a tomahawk, the place went into a frenzy that would not end. The crowd never got tired—it was two straight hours of chants and a wall of noise. Even during the countless TV timeouts, they didn’t rest, singing right along with the band, punctuating the fight song with an emphatic “I-U!” and that thing they do with their arms. Tradition. When the game was no longer in doubt, the unbridled support from students and alumni made me wish I was a Hoosier fan.
At the end of it all, the fans new they finally had beaten a good team--their signature win thus far. Eric Gordon had one of his best games of the season. They showed they could play without the skills of D.J. White. More importantly, they were back in the Big Ten race, setting up an even bigger game against in-state rival and Big Ten leader Purdue.
Rising up from my seat, the Indiana fight song is barely audible, muffled by the deafening crowd. Filing out of the arena, a sudden burst of “I U!” resonates off the awkward walls. Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN, home of the Hoosiers, is stacked 17,000 deep and absolutely rockin. Add that to my “I was there” resume.