Plea to Student Section

[jellybean]

The students have been great. I know we will need a big time showing on Saturday versus VCU especially with a couple of inches of snow during the game. Shaka is a show on the sidelines. Much like Danny Hurley, he sometimes thinks he's the sixth man on the court. I would like the student section to kindly point out to the referees that Coach Smart is wandering onto to the court a little too much. He also likes to have a running conversation with the refs. His team would foul on every play if they could and of course he will say that they never fouled anyone and La Salle is getting away with mayhem.

A constant reminder might help the refs in their challenging task. Maybe remind Coach Smart too. Remember keep it clean because the game is on national television. Come up with something clever. Maybe there will be some suggestions to follow?

[durenduren]

No suggestions, just a thank you. You guys have been pretty great so far, even though things haven't been perfect.

[MisterD]

Best I've ever seen the student section ("us") ride a coach was the late Tom Penders. Moved his huddles all the way over to the far baseline where there weren't any seats under the basket.

[1stflooredwards]

I think the officials would be a little stricter w/ coaches wandering onto the court if they had more room however since Gola is so tight, the coaches get some leeway. If you are one of those fans in the West Side stands that obsesses with this (you know who you are), my suggestion is to direct your energy in another direction. The refs are not going to hit any visiting coach with a T for that infraction.

And while we're on the subject, my pet peeve is those teams that bring chairs and move to the court during time outs. I wish La Salle would say the chairs can mark the floor so they're not allowed. Either sit on the bench or stand. Childish, I know, but it's our place so can't we make the rules?

[belfieldhappyhour]

I like it jellybean. A simple, "Shaka's on the court" chant would work.

You can also throw the Bonnies coach into the group since he was all over the place the other night. I was distracted from watching the game cause he was bouncing all over the place.

1stflooredwards, nice idea, but I'm not sure it'll work. If teams are doing this in places the Cameron Indoor and Assembly Hall, they're going to do it in Gola. I hate it too, but unless there is a better reason than chairs scuffing the court, I don't think teams will stop doing it.

[23won]

I agree the student section has been great and my only request would be to turn the volume up to "11" for this game (and even louder than last year's Butler game, which was nuts).

It makes no sense to whine to the refs about Shaka wandering. The refs laughed when chants were made re Hurley at the Rhody game. Shaka has way more cred and will get away with wandering. If you focus on the coach you won't be watching the game. I'd rather have fans watch the game and immediately scream about a blown call, which can be "made up" by the crew in the ordinary course. Much better result.

[MisterD]

He's so little its possible slight air pressure shifts are pushing him onto the court.

[gjc576]

Jan 24, 2014 10:16:59 GMT -5 MisterD said:

Best I've ever seen the student section ("us") ride a coach was the late Tom Penders. Moved his huddles all the way over to the far baseline where there weren't any seats under the basket.

i think you mean the late skip prosser when he was at xavier? tom penders is still alive. i remember the student section (one of only a few times during my days at lasalle when students actually showed up) really got on prosser and you could tell he was irritated.

[23won]

Jan 24, 2014 12:21:28 GMT -5 gjc576 said:

Jan 24, 2014 10:16:59 GMT -5 MisterD said:

Best I've ever seen the student section ("us") ride a coach was the late Tom Penders. Moved his huddles all the way over to the far baseline where there weren't any seats under the basket.

tom penders is still alive.

I guess you haven't heard any of his broadcasts this year ;-)   He is brutal to listen to.  Sounds like he had a stroke and is addicted to xanax.

[MisterD]

Ah, you're right. In my defense, if you combine (the also (very, very sadly) late) Dr. Ratkus with Tom Penders, you get Skip Prosser.

[jellybean]

Yes, Tom Penders had a tweet on 1/18.

I don't care if the refs give him a warning or a T. It's all about getting in his head. Ask Screamer about that HE IS THE MASTER and Rollie still has nightmares about him. It is a way for the student section to help. Be part of the game within the game. They are great but they need to be more creative. Awesome job on the rollouts this past Saturday.

The mad rush to put the chairs on the court annoys me too. The funniest one was when Xavier Asst Coach at the time Pat Skerry was so ticked off that they were trailing at Gola that on purpose he bumped into Rodney Green. Skerry looked like he had been run over by a Mack Truck. He actually wanted to go after Rodney (who gave him one of those looks over his shoulder like who is this nut?) but he didn't. One of those Three Stooges skits. "let me at him".

Excellent chant Belfield. Short and to the point. Clean. If Shake hears that enough he'll definitely give a reaction.
I would also love to have the students come up with a chant about "illegal screens". URI took it too a new level when they were here.

VCU fouls like crazy. Maybe a count would be pretty funny after each foul like they do with K's at the baseball games. "That's one, two, three and now four."

[fvp47]

Mister D. You had best very carefully explain your reference to Mark Ratkus who was a very close friend of mine.

[MisterD]

Looks wise, Pender facially resembled a mix of those two.


(I loved Ratkus. He and Halpin were easily my two favorite professors at La Salle. Not that there weren't other great ones, but those two were the only two where I really didn't want to miss class.)

[MisterD]

(Also, there's a far less dickish way to ask for clarification.)

[fvp47]

Thank you for the clarification. The point is simply that you defined Penders as a bore and Prosser as dead. That in combination with the stroke reference to then bring in Mark struck me as not well thought out.
Glad you liked his class. He and I were classmates. During the years when the program wandered in the valley we would often talk and rant about the program. It made me very sad that over the prior two seasons he did not witness the turnaround.
Your last post is well taken.

[MisterD]

Gotcha, sorry if the second one came off harsh. He was awesome, a guy who didn't just give off the impression he cared about his kids, but really did. Had him for econ twice and freshman orientation and loved it.

[coqui900]

Dr. Ratkus was a great person who helped out a lot of people beyond the classroom. One of my favorites.

[fvp47]

Needless to say we went back a long way and were there during the 68-69 season.

[Gnocchi]

Jan 24, 2014 13:44:01 GMT -5 jellybean said:

I don't care if the refs give him a warning or a T. It's all about getting in his head. Ask Screamer about that HE IS THE MASTER...

Paging Screamer...

[theneumann64]

88 really must be on hiatus. I know the chairs on the court are a big pet peeve of his, if he's around, I doubt he'd pass up an opportunity to comment on that.

Hope everything's OK with him.

[ltrain38]

He responded to something on the A-10 board a few days ago, I think.