When I walked in to Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday night to see the Cyclones take on Kansas, I was very impressed by the highly touted ‘video board.’ I must admit, the video picture is incredible. I continued to enjoy the screens with the candid shots of the fans and the warm-ups taking place during pregame. So far, so good, I thought. But, as the team came onto the floor for the introductions, the new technology upset me for the first time. Instead of hearing the band strike up the classic fight song, the speakers spit out an obnoxious crashing sound. I looked up on the new video screen and saw some sort of ball of lightning or energy releasing sparks and scrambled shots of the team. Was I excited at this point? Not really. I have learned to live with Van Halen being played during the introductions, but what is with this craziness beforehand? I have been a Cyclone basketball fan for sometime, and nothing says Hilton like the team running out to the fight song to the excitement of the crowd. Let’s keep some traditions alive.

My focus turned to upsetting Kansas as the game started. A few minutes into the ball game, I looked up to the million dollar plus scoreboard to see how much time was left before a TV timeout. Well, I looked long and hard, but it was the darndest thing, the information I wanted just wasn’t there. Then I wondered what the score was, and that wasn’t on the main board either. I thought to myself, the university spent over a million dollars on this technology and didn’t have the brains to find a spot on the video board for the score and the time remaining. I guess they figured we would just have to get used to scanning the arena to find the most necessary information of the basketball game. Give me a break.

I hope that the video board becomes something that I really enjoy. I hope to see Cyclone trivia, attendance for the game, and some goofy cartoon games that the fans can get into during timeouts.

I have one more gripe about the Hilton atmosphere that I must address. I am not a big fan of the cheerleaders’ chants during timeouts. If you are like me, you don’t jump to your feet when they break into that “Let’s … Go … State” routine with the cue cards. And how about the “I … S … U” chant with the flags? Yeah, that really makes me want to rock the house. I feel sorry for the guy with the ‘S’ flag. He always seems about ready to fall over when he swings his. The band always has to rescue the crowd from the downer chants.

The band is one thing that I have been extremely pleased with this year. I love the fact that they have inserted solos into some of their songs. I also like the singing of the fight song. That seems to really get people on their feet. Keep up the good work!

I know the main point of basketball games in Hilton are the actual games, but I just would like to see some traditions, like the fight song, stick around.

Chuck Hilby

Senior

Mathematics education