COLUMN: Brandon Davies not afraid of the Spectrum
Once again, Utah State has blown my mind. Last night the temperatures were in the teens, but Aggie pride kept hundreds of students warm. This is a movement I can get behind.
Occupy the Spectrum is trending on Twitter, the HPER field looks like tent city and blue Hurd wristbands are popping up everywhere. The Spectrum magic is back.
Props to the Hurd for its great idea and constant willingness to be flexible. There are 1,400 students camping out for three straight nights just to get into one basketball game, and you have to love it.
As I’m sitting in my own tent writing this, I can feel the mutual love of our school. Anyone who says the Spectrum isn’t the toughest arena to play in is a fool. When I say that, I mean the toughest sporting arena in the nation, not the West or Utah, but wherever else has been thrown out there.
The game itself has been hyped up. Despite Weber State’s recent bid to be hailed as the best team in the state, the Aggies and the Cougars are the two biggest basketball powerhouses in Utah. It’s a huge game. BYU returns to Logan without Jimmer Fridette, while Utah State’s young guns continue to impress Aggie fans.
They give you no excuses not to scream your lungs out for your team — looking at you Jake Frisby.
Since 2000, the battles between the Kittens and the Aggies are split evenly down the middle 6-6. BYU fans think that’s not a rivalry; it’s comical really. They only tell themselves that because then it would hurt when they lose.
In 2005, the Cougars started to refuse to play in Logan since the environment inside the Spectrum is so hostile. When they finally manned up and returned to the Spectrum in 2009, the Aggies — with help from Section F — trounced the Zoobies 71-55.
Then last year’s matchup saw the late game-changing foul on Tai Wesley that probably shouldn’t have been called and resulted in a 78-72 Utah State loss. It still stings a little.
It will be a different story in 2011. There is a loss to avenge. There is the 6-6 tie to break. The Spectrum will be filled, and I know Aggie fans will be prepared. The student section better bring it’s A-game, because BYU is expecting it.
Remember Brandon Davies? He’s the BYU forward who wasn’t allowed to play at the end of the season last year because of an honor code violation. He’s back on the roster and said the Spectrum won’t affect him.
“I love the hostile environment,” Davies said, in a BYU press conference. “I don’t know what’s going to be said, but I’m ready for it. I’m pretty good at ignoring things like that. That’s part of the game. You get that anywhere you go. It’s one of the toughest places to play. We all expect it. But it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to affect me.”
Prove him wrong.
– Meredith Kinney is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and is an avid hockey fan. She hopes to one day be a bigshot sideline reporter working for ESPN. Send any comments to meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu.