A K LEO T H E
FRIDAY, FEB. 22 to MONDAY FEB. 25, 2013 VOLUME 108 ISSUE 57
Serving the students of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
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STUDENTS SHAKE STAN SHERIFF CENTER JOEY R AMIREZ Sports Editor
Section F of the Stan Sheriff Center is the place to be for students . For Rainbow Warrior opponents, it has become a nightmare.
GOOD TIME
The Mānoa Maniacs student section has increased its average attendance from 218 last year to 391 this season, thanks in part to its new slogan: Every basketball game is a party.
“There were a couple nights [last season] where it was basically me and a couple friends, and that was the student section. Now, if I don’t get here right when the gates open, I can’t get my front row seat,” said Jeremy Haight, also known as “Obama Guy.” In fact, not including games over winter break, 2013 student attendance (3,906) has already surpassed last
year’s final number (2,393) with three home matchups left on the schedule. “I was told from the get-go that we’d be wasting our time because students at Hawai‘i just don’t like basketball,” said video coordinator Jamie Smith, who leads this season’s student attendance initiative. “However, when I found out what they actually did to promote sports on campus, my feeling was not that the students didn’t necessarily like basketball, but that they didn’t actually know when the games were.”
Even fans who do not usually support UH athletics have become die-hards. “I went to one [basketball game last year], but I left halfway through,” said Zach “Speedo Guy” Caven. “It wasn’t that fun and there was no one in the student section, so we just kinda bailed. There’s a lot more energy in the stadium [this season]. … Even if we’re losing, we’re still pumped up and yelling.” Lifelong Hawai‘i fans have also been Lifelo impressed by the rapid improveimpress ment of the Mānoa Maniacs, including when th the students debuted a new freethrow distraction against UC Davis. “When “Wh we did the roller coaster cheer for the fi rst time, all of the other fans in the in amazement and applauded arena gasped ga student section,” Smith said. “Coach the stud Arnold said that in his 20 years of [Gib] A coaching he had never witnessed fans apcoachin plaud aanother section of fans before.”
O P P O N E N T S ʼ N I G H TM A R E One O group of people unhappy with the aamount of support is the Rainbow Warriors’ opponents, seeing how UH War is 5 -1 in games with more than 350 students attending. stu This includes victories against Big West-leading Long Beach State (574 stuWes dents) and second place Pacific (476). dent But perhaps the key to the student section’s success has been just den how diverse it is. “They [the students] really get the idea of what a college atmosphere should be like,” Smith said. sph They’ve seen what we’ve been try“ Th ing to start, and they really want to get involved with that too.” Look for the Mā noa Maniacs to out in full force tomorrow at 5 p.m. be o the Rainbow Warriors face off against as th Northern Arizona on Star Wars night. Nort
The Rainbow Warrior basketball games have featured a variety of themes, such as Wig or Beach night. Tomorrow is Star Wars themed. ISMAEL MA KA LEO O HAWAI‘I
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FRIDAY N: W: S: E:
3 -7 f t. 1- 3+ f t. 1- 3 f t. 5 -10 f t.
SATURDAY N: W: S: E:
3 -7 f t. 2-5 f t. 0 - 3 f t. 5 -10 f t.
SUNDAY
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2-5 f t. 1-3 f t. 0 -2 f t. 3-7 f t.