BY TIM DEVANEY AND AMENA ANDERSON
Your Sports editor and Assistant managing editor
If you've attended men’s or women's basketball games at Cornerstone recently, you would find it hard to believe there once was a time when teams hated to play here, when Cornerstone was a "pit" where noise and frenzied activity gave the Golden Eagles a built-in advantage.
Ten years ago Cornerstone's men won a national championship, but the spirit and support wasn't tied into that single memorable season.
For years, in the old Fieldhouse and the new Mol Arena, teams dreaded coming here, because they knew the noise level would make for an especially long night and difficult game.
In the early years of the new Mol Arena, the Golden Eagles have benefited from home-court advantage. Over a five year span from the 2002-03 season until last season the men’s basketball team had only lost six home games.
A basketball game at Cornerstone was the same as the basketball games played everywhere else in the country. Frenzied students, spirited cheerleaders, supportive alumni, committed faculty and a wild, creative pep band stirred the pot with loud background music.
“It would be packed from the first row to the top row,” former Athletic Director Bob Fortosis said. “Students would come with their faces painted. Four or five of them would dress up and run up-and-down the stands and get the crowd going.”
But it hasn’t been like that in a while. Only a handful of students show up regularly. The cheerleaders have disappeared. Parents attend, but few graduates. And when was the last time you saw anybody in the faculty section?
But most of all, the absence of a pep band is telling, because it raises the noise level, starts the support and fills in the dead spots. Cornerstone is one of only three schools in the WHAC that doesn't have either a pep band, dance team or cheerleaders perform at games.
Until next season, maybe.
“By next fall we are confident we will be able to have a quality pep band,” said Donna Bohn, associate professor of music.
Unfortunately, this season fans will have to entertain themselves. Bohn explained the music department is not prepared for a pep band currently due to a lack of leadership. Previously, it was student-led, and without staff involvement the quality was poor and reflected negatively on the music department, so it was cut before the 2007-08 season.
“They go, ‘Wow, that music department must not be very good,’” Bohn said about visitors who witness a poor performance. “That is a poor and inaccurate reflection of the quality of the rest of the [music] department.”
Some fans disagree.
“Give me a break! The primary purpose of a pep band is not there to be good musicians. It’s about team spirit,” said Don Irving, whose son attends CU. “Whether you’re a good musician or not doesn’t reflect.”
Bohn said there are currently students interested in starting a pep band, and Athletic Director Dave Grube said "we would absolutely love to see that happen," but a faculty or staff member would need to oversee it.
Richard Zeck may be that person. The adjunct business professor in the PGS division recognizes the need for a pep band and said he would consider overseeing it to help start one this season.
Former CU Athletic Director Bob Fortosis said it took “very little” effort to run in the past, and the reward was a thriving student section.
“Student involvement in basketball was such that we had concerns about overzealous fans,” Fortosis said.
Now Cornerstone is at the opposite end of the spectrum with under zealous fans. According to Grube and Fortosis, the student section has dropped from 300 fans to 75 over the last decade. The loss of the pep band and cheerleaders has hurt school spirit.
While Cornerstone students shouldn’t expect to see either this season, Grube is planning to install a Spirit Squad, which will lead chants and interact with the student section during timeouts and halftime.
Grube plans to initiate the squad by Jan. 17, 2009, when Cornerstone hosts Indiana Tech during homecoming.
“School spirit is huge in terms of a great college experience,” CU President Joe Stowell said. “A wild and wonderful student spirit section at home basketball games would have my two thumbs up vote. Anything I could do to help make that happen is high on my list!”
Men’s basketball coach Kim Elders experienced firsthand how much the student section contributed when he lead the Golden Eagles to the 1999 national championship, and he can only hope Stowell’s wish will come true.
“To me, mascots, pep bands and cheerleaders are a very important part of a college basketball game,” he said. “It adds so much more excitement, plus it brings in more fans.”
It’s widely speculated the atmosphere at basketball games will improve. The question is when. Next season or this season?
This article was published in The Herald during the fall of 2008.
Your Sports editor and Assistant managing editor
If you've attended men’s or women's basketball games at Cornerstone recently, you would find it hard to believe there once was a time when teams hated to play here, when Cornerstone was a "pit" where noise and frenzied activity gave the Golden Eagles a built-in advantage.Ten years ago Cornerstone's men won a national championship, but the spirit and support wasn't tied into that single memorable season.
For years, in the old Fieldhouse and the new Mol Arena, teams dreaded coming here, because they knew the noise level would make for an especially long night and difficult game.
In the early years of the new Mol Arena, the Golden Eagles have benefited from home-court advantage. Over a five year span from the 2002-03 season until last season the men’s basketball team had only lost six home games.
A basketball game at Cornerstone was the same as the basketball games played everywhere else in the country. Frenzied students, spirited cheerleaders, supportive alumni, committed faculty and a wild, creative pep band stirred the pot with loud background music.
“It would be packed from the first row to the top row,” former Athletic Director Bob Fortosis said. “Students would come with their faces painted. Four or five of them would dress up and run up-and-down the stands and get the crowd going.”
But it hasn’t been like that in a while. Only a handful of students show up regularly. The cheerleaders have disappeared. Parents attend, but few graduates. And when was the last time you saw anybody in the faculty section?
But most of all, the absence of a pep band is telling, because it raises the noise level, starts the support and fills in the dead spots. Cornerstone is one of only three schools in the WHAC that doesn't have either a pep band, dance team or cheerleaders perform at games.
Until next season, maybe.
“By next fall we are confident we will be able to have a quality pep band,” said Donna Bohn, associate professor of music.
Unfortunately, this season fans will have to entertain themselves. Bohn explained the music department is not prepared for a pep band currently due to a lack of leadership. Previously, it was student-led, and without staff involvement the quality was poor and reflected negatively on the music department, so it was cut before the 2007-08 season.
“They go, ‘Wow, that music department must not be very good,’” Bohn said about visitors who witness a poor performance. “That is a poor and inaccurate reflection of the quality of the rest of the [music] department.”
Some fans disagree.
“Give me a break! The primary purpose of a pep band is not there to be good musicians. It’s about team spirit,” said Don Irving, whose son attends CU. “Whether you’re a good musician or not doesn’t reflect.”
Bohn said there are currently students interested in starting a pep band, and Athletic Director Dave Grube said "we would absolutely love to see that happen," but a faculty or staff member would need to oversee it.
Richard Zeck may be that person. The adjunct business professor in the PGS division recognizes the need for a pep band and said he would consider overseeing it to help start one this season.
Former CU Athletic Director Bob Fortosis said it took “very little” effort to run in the past, and the reward was a thriving student section.
“Student involvement in basketball was such that we had concerns about overzealous fans,” Fortosis said.
Now Cornerstone is at the opposite end of the spectrum with under zealous fans. According to Grube and Fortosis, the student section has dropped from 300 fans to 75 over the last decade. The loss of the pep band and cheerleaders has hurt school spirit.
While Cornerstone students shouldn’t expect to see either this season, Grube is planning to install a Spirit Squad, which will lead chants and interact with the student section during timeouts and halftime.
Grube plans to initiate the squad by Jan. 17, 2009, when Cornerstone hosts Indiana Tech during homecoming.
“School spirit is huge in terms of a great college experience,” CU President Joe Stowell said. “A wild and wonderful student spirit section at home basketball games would have my two thumbs up vote. Anything I could do to help make that happen is high on my list!”
Men’s basketball coach Kim Elders experienced firsthand how much the student section contributed when he lead the Golden Eagles to the 1999 national championship, and he can only hope Stowell’s wish will come true.
“To me, mascots, pep bands and cheerleaders are a very important part of a college basketball game,” he said. “It adds so much more excitement, plus it brings in more fans.”
It’s widely speculated the atmosphere at basketball games will improve. The question is when. Next season or this season?
This article was published in The Herald during the fall of 2008.
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