His name is lost to history, but the brazen individual who chose to wear a USC Trojans T-shirt in Section 10 of McArthur Court during the Trojans’ game against the Ducks made a profound statement. Alex Horwitch, the president of the Pit Crew, made one right back.
Amid chants of “Get him out!” Horwitch took a sign — a headstone marking the “death” of USC’s basketball program — and slipped it to the Oregon student right in front of Trojan Shirt. For the rest of the game, he was resigned to adjusting himself to watch every play before exiting the arena with a 67-57 loss to the home team weighing around his neck.
The enemy has been vanquished. For now.
Oregon has had difficulty selling out men’s basketball games at McArthur Court this season. Students are also having trouble convincing themselves that watching the Ducks is worth the price of a free ticket, and the general public has had access to Section 10 seats as a result.
Just a few years ago, this would have been unthinkable, especially for a student section as “passionate” as the Pit Crew. The organization has always dreamt of being held up alongside the Cameron Crazies of Duke for dedication and support of their college basketball teams.
Of course, a bad year for Duke would be a memorable year for most Duck basketball fans. And a bad year for Oregon — last season, for example — just never happens at Duke. Last season, the fans couldn’t be brought out to support a bad team.
Nevertheless, a bad year at Duke is not going to mean North Carolina State or Virginia or Florida State is any more welcome in Cameron Indoor Stadium. And the Pit Crew made sure to be as unwelcoming as possible to the visiting Trojans.
Two separate “headstone” signs were produced, along with a “Good Luck in the Post Season” sign. Dozens of students — 37, according to The Oregonian’s John Hunt, who enjoyed the stunt but understated the number — held up red X’s in accordance with a “USC Recruiting Violation Counter” sign.
The Pit Crew didn’t just stop at the Trojan basketball players, of course. “Some Oregon students thought it would be funny to fill my Times’ press row seat with about 40 yellow ‘Duckeroni’ foam sticks and pom-poms,” Los Angeles Times reporter Baxter Holmes wrote in a blog post before the game. “Hardy har.”
The most vicious remarks heard on Saturday were also directed toward a non-player: USC graduate student-manager Stan Holt, whose second-half technical foul arguably cost the Trojans the game and cost Holt his job. Chants of “Thank you, Baldy” and “You got fired” turned the heat up for Holt in Mac Court, and when he left the bench, chants of “Where is Baldy?” kept the focus on that play.
The only real criticism of the Pit Crew heard after the game was the general lack of volume from the student section. Given how stellar the student fans were in other aspects of heckling and schadenfreude, the charge of uncharacteristic quietude is practically offensive.
Volume can be easily adjusted, however. Enthusiasm, not so much.
Horwitch, a sophomore journalism major, is charged with the unenviable task of stoking the passions of the student fans when the basketball team’s play cannot do so. The job of the Pit Crew president is far from easy, as students often harbor unrealistic expectations while the athletic department holds its breath and crosses its fingers, praying for a good-natured performance.
The basketball team itself has taken steps to recognize the Pit Crew as well. Before last week’s game against UCLA, head coach Ernie Kent invited members of the Pit Crew into the locker room as the Ducks prepared to take the court. Upon entering the locker room, the students heard Kent reminding his team, “Remember who you’re playing for! These guys!”
“The locker room experience was one of the most interesting and awesome things I’ve ever been involved with,” Horwitch said in an e-mail. “The huddle broke, we all followed them into the front area, started singing ‘Mighty Oregon’ and followed (the players and coaches) up the stairs and through the tunnel. Nothing is cooler than running into an arena to screaming fans and the fight song playing.”
When that isn’t an option, being a screaming fan more than suffices.
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