OPINION: Reclaiming the Spectrum magic
Dear University of Idaho:
Thank you.
Before now, I’d never thought of writing you before. In fact, my chances of saying those two words to your school have been near equal to those of me transferring to that place down south.
Your basketball team, in large part, was the reason the dormant Spectrum monster was reawakened, which means you will be getting a bit of hate mail from our future opponents here.
But hey, please accept my heartfelt and sincere gratitude, you Vandals, you.
Before you came along on Jan. 6, the Spectrum had been slumbering. We had seemingly forgotten our tireless traditions and team with one meager loss to that point. The diehard fans had been trying multiple techniques to help bring the rest of the student section back, but to little avail, as evidenced by only the first fifteen rows being filled the night we played.
Even Voldemort needed Peter Pettigrew to come back to life, so I guess that means you can be Wormtail.
I’m assuming you planned this with your head coach, Don Verlin, a former Aggie assistant, because if the game had been a blowout like most in the building expected, another large winning streak would have continued and the same amount of students would care. If you had held on to your eight-point lead with two minutes left, we would have buried ourselves in the snow after that type of loss with fan support dropping even lower.
So instead, you played the perfect scenario we needed to get going again: a miracle, season-defining play.
Thank you for putting yourselves in the position to allow a late comeback and set up Preston Medlin’s heroic three-point shot, tying the game and sending us to overtime. The likes of that frenzy hadn’t been seen this year, and the third of the student section there brought back the regular ear-rattling noise levels.
From that point on, as you well know, we rolled to an 82-75 overtime victory. But, more importantly, gave the dying crowd a jolt of life we needed. As I stated, any other scenario could not have worked out more perfectly. While standing courtside during our next game against San Jose State, I looked up at the standing room only student section screaming out the Scotsman and felt it only necessary to write a note of gratitude.
Just like that, the Spectrum is back. The beard-out will be only the beginning as our team continues to shine and fans of all types keep coming in full supportive force. Nothing should stop us from regaining our status as a nationally recognized fan base.
Please accept my warmest appreciation, and know we will remember your sacrifice in our behalf.
Sincerely, A Devoted Aggie Fan.
P.S. Preston Medlin says hi.
– Mark Hopkins is an obsessive Aggie fan that moonlights as an almost unbiased Statesman writer. He is majoring in business administration. Comment at m.hop@aggiemail.usu.edu