Take me out to the ball game

Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd :)
On Saturday I went to a basketball game in Chicago. Our team, the Fighting Illini, were playing against the University of Georgia team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

So here are some pictures! The Fighting Illini colours are bright orange and navy, and Georgia is navy and red. My camera doesn't like movement so some pics sre blurry.

I will provide some commentary so you can learn from my American cultural experience.

This is just to illustrate the dedication of the fans - all decked out in Illini orange!

And this to illustrate the size of the stadium. That big square of TV panels at the top shows close ups and replays and game stats during the game.

And between the levels of people are more LDC panels that show team logos during the match, and psychadelic light show colours at opportune times too. Like before the match when the lights go off and the players huddle and the spotlight fall on them and the do a bit of a phyching themselves up go team thing. And the players are announced by name, and they run on to the court.

On that note - the match commentary is pretty funny. And mostly consists of a WWF style voice going "Miiiiiiiiiike Davis for three points!" whenever Mike Davis shoots a three point shot.* :)

The guys on the floor during the above picture were a local is lekker dance group doing some halftime entertainment. What is that dance style where people spend a lot of time spinning on their heads? Yeah, it was that.

This picture is here for two reasons. First, see the huddle of men in suits and men in orange in the top corner? That is the basketball team with the suited people I assume to be their coaches. These huddles happen during time outs, which are approximately every 1 to 2 minutes. I'm not kidding. These college basketball matches are 20 minutes per side, but the whole game takes about two hours (including a 15 minute half time). Because there are 30 second or minute long time outs every minute or two.

What happens during time outs? The answer: all sorts of theatrics! That is the second part of this picture. The girls you see are the pep squad. They do some dancing to music. They are not to be confused with the cheer leaders, pictured below.

The cheer leaders are more like gymnasts than anything else. Or maybe circus acrobats. They are amazing. They do all sorts of death defying feats, one of which is pictured above. And they stay standing up like that for ages. Wow.

And this is the band. They play before the match and in time outs sometimes and during halftime. And they don't just play, they dance. Awesome.

But the main attraction is not the band or the pep squad or the cheerleaders. It's the ballgame:

We won the men's game against Georgia. But sadly lost the woman's game against Bradley (our ladies were wearing white):


I am also pleased to announce that I could follow the match. I sort of understand basketball now. As indicated by the asterisk (*) above, I know the difference between a two point shot and a three point shot. I understand what plays are about. I sortof understand the walking issue. I don't really understand fouls though.

But I know enough to be able to clap at the right time and gasp at the right time, and thats the most important thing!