GUEST PERSPECTIVE

First thing you should know: I resisted the urge to start off with the old, crotchety “back in my day” reference.

Not that “my day” was that long ago, but recently it’s starting to feel like it. Anyway, back to my point, if I ever get there…

Last Saturday night, as I sat at my desk at work (an exciting Saturday, I know), I spent 20 minutes fiddling with my computer, trying to get ESPN3.com working.

The Duke-North Carolina game was on the office TV, and the Boston University ice hockey team was playing a make-or-break game against Northeastern University at the same time. And usually on Friday or Saturday nights, I get through the hours at work listening to Bernie and Tom describe my beloved Terrier hockey team.

But on Saturday, it wasn’t hockey I was after. It was BU and Hartford in the America East men’s basketball semifinal. And finally, I got the feed working, just in time for the opening tip.

You see, I’ve always had a love for college basketball. The NCAA Tournament is my single favorite sporting event but I have never had a team to call my own. After four years at BU, the Terriers became my only real allegiance and have done nothing but disappoint me for the last decade.

But things seem different this year, mostly since the arrival of head coach Pat Chambers. He has brought in exciting players who don’t seem afraid of a big moment and adopted the “anybody, anywhere, anytime” attitude of scheduling. I watched back in November, in person, as the Terriers (sort of) hung around on the road against a talented Villanova University team.

I wholeheartedly expect BU to beat Stony Brook University on Saturday and advance to the Big Dance for the first time since 2002. But my prediction is not really the point of all this rambling.

Simply: GO TO THE GAME.

Stumble out of your dorm room or apartment, grab some breakfast, and head to Agganis Arena. Tip is at noon. I know that’s early for a Saturday, but you’ll get over it. And I know for most of you, tickets are “free” with your SportsPass.

Mostly, do it for you.

Sporting events at BU were the highlight of my time on campus. And while that mostly had to do with Jack Parker and the hockey team, one of the most memorable moments came when BU hosted the 2003 conference final at The Roof against University of Vermont. The Terriers lost on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater by David Hehn (his disgusting long hair still haunts my dreams), but I’ll never forget how the gym literally swayed back and forth all afternoon. Important March basketball games are not to be missed.

Do it for the team.

Chambers attracted the most talented group of Terriers in recent memory, to a non-traditional basketball school, for this very moment. They have come up big when it matters (unlike some of their predecessors) and earned the right to play this game at home on Saturday. They deserve you to be loud, crazy and to have a direct influence on the game, from beginning to end.

And here’s where the old crotchety alum perspective comes in: Do it for the rest of us because you’ll be an alum soon, too.

Let’s face it: BU grads, especially us sports fans, live with an inferiority complex. We are either explaining ice hockey to those who don’t get it or defending our low-major conference status on the basketball court. Or telling people, “No, it’s BU. Not Boston College.”

Whether it’s simply Greg Gumbel saying our name when we go into the bracket, or in a perfect world, Gus Johnson screaming about a John Holland 3-pointer that gives us just the faintest hope of an upset, it would be a moment to savor.

Not only would a capacity crowd at Agganis on Saturday help lift the Terriers, it would also prove that maybe, at some point, BU belongs in a league bigger than the America East. And while they would need to win a few league titles to even be considered, no conference wants a school that can’t even put 5,000 people in the stands for the biggest game in a decade.

Many of us would love to be in the stands this weekend, but will have to settle for the thrill of seeing Rhett’s face on ESPN2. For those of you on campus, there is no excuse.

Go to the game, be loud and prove to us alums that our current perception of student apathy is overstated

(one friend assumes the attendance will be closer to 2,000 than 5,000). I’m a little more optimistic. Don’t prove me wrong.

I’ve listened to more than a few home hockey games this year that sounded like they were in an empty airplane hanger. And while I give kudos to the handful of fans who went to Hartford last weekend, there’s no excuse that more students didn’t make the trip. The school even provided a bus.

A few of my friends and fellow alums are even making the trip this weekend to cheer on their Terriers. While I can’t join them (welcome to the real world), there’s no reason you shouldn’t. And while you’re at it, hit up the women’s hockey game at Walter Brown and the women’s hoops final at the Roof.

The BU men made the NCAA Tournament my freshman year, and I assumed it would become a regular occurrence.

That was nearly 10 years ago.

Now it’s up to you to make sure it doesn’t become 11.