Students camp out for prime Villanova seats
Armed with sleeping bags, blankets, flashlights and their warmest winter gear, some students started their first week of classes braving the cold. Stationed at the bottom of the Carrier Dome’s icy steps outside of Gate E, determined Syracuse University basketball fans have set up three tents as makeshift homes.
Despite frigid temperatures, all the students who are currently camping out for tickets to Saturday’s game against Villanova University believe defying the weather is completely worth it.
‘Villa’s always a good game, it’s worth it to line up early,’ said Brian Erwin, a freshman music industry major. ‘We want to get good seats — we’re at second row right now.’
The students camping out are members of Otto’s Army, a student-based fan club. Some of the students have had their tents set up since Sunday.
‘We got here on Sunday at noon,’ said Ashley Andrew, a sophomore communication sciences and disorders major. ‘We’ve camped out for games before.’
SU basketball games against Villanova, currently ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for men’s basketball, have typically drawn in large crowds. Last year’s game boasted a record-breaking 34,616 tickets sold.
The tent next to Erwin’s bunker had 16 people involved in a class-schedule rotation dedicated to the front-row spot.
‘Four people have to be here at all times while other people go to class, so we made up a schedule, and we switch on and off,’ Andrew said.
Despite SU’s loss to Pittsburgh on Monday, deflating the team’s undefeated record for the season, the Orange is still in the No. 3 spot, according to the AP poll. With the team climbing the ranks, fans have said they are as eager as ever to cheer on the players.
‘Once people get word that other people are out here, they’re sure to come out,’ said Paul Ang, a senior forestry and engineering major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. ‘It’s going to be a good game.’
Published on January 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Danielle: dmodiama@syr.edu | @daniemarieodie
