TICKET

Continued from Page 08

As far as their favorite place to go in the MAC, it would be nowhere because Ken said they don’t like most of them teamwise. But if there was a place they liked to go the most, he said it would either be Miami of Ohio for the shorter drive or Toledo, Ohio, because there is such a tense rivalry.

Since the Briners travel so much, Peggy talked about a favorite restaurant, when they travel to Northern Illinois, in DeKalb, Illinois, called Yen Ching. She said most of the employees know them when they visit.

The fans were united in their excitement about men’s basketball head coach Michael Lewis, who Starnes and the Casazzas said has created more excitement in the games.

“I think [men’s basketball head coach] Michael Lewis has kind of generated some excitement,” Starnes said. “We still have 5-6,000 in our arena and hold 11 [thousand]. Then, when you look at able to do any of this to get how far we got now.” Justin is Garnisha’s only child; however, she said even if she had 17 kids, she’d want all of them to be like Justin.

“Looking at Justin’s strength through everything he’s gone through, I know I’ve done a good job,” Garnisha said. “That’s enough for me to focus now on making sure that we’re gonna be okay and let him focus on making sure he’s gonna be okay.”

She’d want these 17 kids to chase their dreams and not let a physical hindrance be just as much of an emotional one, like Justin. Whether he gets to this headspace through making videos, listening to music, playing video games, watching sports, writing or anything else, Justin said he knows one thing despite all the medical obstacles thrown at him.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Justin said. “The thing I can say keeps me going is the fact that I don’t know when, but I know this will end at some point. It’s not gonna be a thing that’s gonna last forever.” some of the other MAC schools and when we’re playing a road game, they’re lucky to have 1,000 people. Even though it is not great, it is better than other schools.”

Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at kyle.smedley@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ KyleSmedley_.

Although Starnes can be seen in the stands away from players and coaches, he also has a good relationship with Sallee.

Starnes’ granddaughter is roommates and good friends with Sallee’s daughter, so he said Sallee has almost been a second father to her over the years.

Sallee said the Starnes family had a great impact on his family when they first arrived here at Ball State.

“He’s been all in from the moment I got here and supported our program,” Sallee said. “He hardly misses any Ball State games but hardly misses any of ours. I always know where he’s sitting, and he’s always been nothing but supportive.”

Ball State is just not a university to these longterm season ticket holders. It is connecting with players, being with friends, supporting a team and a place where some have worked. A second home.

Contact Elijah Poe with comments at elijah.