More Fans, More Noise, No Problem

Without local professional sporting franchises close by, the Champlain Valley has turned to the closest thing its got, college sports.

Story and photos by Chris Benini

Like many residents of Plattsburgh Jason Roberts is entertained and intrigued by the power local sports have over the community.

"It is a terrific source of entertainment and in all reality there will probably never be a professional team to ever play in Plattsburgh," Roberts said. "The closest you'll get is the Montreal Canadians up in Canada. So, to have some very competitive sports at the college and even the high school sports [level]...I think is very important to the community, as a fan."

There is plenty of high school action around the Plattsburgh area, including at Plattsburgh High School, located right next to State University College at Plattsburgh. "High school [sports have] really gained [in] popularity over the years," Roberts said. "If you check out ESPN, they televise some of the top high school football matchups in the country. To see high school sports on ESPN, that's crazy. It's the only way to describe it."

There may not be a better time to be involved in Cardinal sports than this year. Of the six fall team sports programs, five finished with winning records.

"The coaches, the players, the fans all love it."

Plattsburgh has a number of the top sports programs in all of Division III. Men's basketball has made the national NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. Men's and women's hockey teams continue to find themselves in the top 10 annually. Also, the men's soccer team competed in the NCAA tournament and made it to the final four this fall.

Not to mention, a group of PSUC students have formed a group called the Cardinal Crazier and it has its own student section in the crowd at the men's basketball games.

"The coaches, the players, the fans all love it," said the originator of the Cardinal Crazies, Corey Wright. "More fans, more noise, it really creates a sense of some home court advantage for the team. Most of all, I think the people of Plattsburgh that come to the games are really enjoying it as well, just as much as we are."

"I'm a big fan of college basketball and now I don't have to travel to larger schools to get that attitude or atmosphere, like it is in Syracuse," Roberts said. "It's really great for the students to step up and create their own student section, like the big boys."

"The fans are our pulse."

Just because it is Plattsburgh, it doesn't mean it's a small crowd. When Plattsburgh played Middlebury in women's hockey last year in a one versus two matchup, Plattsburgh set the Divison III attendance record, with 802 crowd members.

Even some of the players are surprised at how many Plattsburgh fans there are. "We get a good amount," said Jamie Ott, a PSUC woman's soccer player. "It's a lot more than high school, to get a good 200 to 300 people, at least, for every home game is pretty special."

The fans of PSUC sports are very important to the college and to the team. "The fans are our pulse," said basketball player, Mike Dietz. "That pretty much summarizes it. It's great to have someone supporting you. I think we feed off of [the fan's momentum]. We play harder to impress them. Without them, it is just a scrimmage that counts."

Even though Plattsburgh may be considered a small school, the popularity of sports here has been larger than life. If the school could eventually get more support, there's even a chance that maybe the school will one day find themselves taking on Division I teams.

How does watching a Plattsburgh sporting event live compare to a Division I college sport's game you would watch on television?

Chris Travers is a reserve guard on the State University College at Plattsburgh basketball team. He says that the whole team is big fans of the Cardinal Crazies.

"We were actually talking about this last year," Travers said. "About how cool it would be to have something like this, like our own cheering section."

Now that the Cardinals have their own cheering section it looks like everyone is having a great time. The players are feeding off the positive energy and playing better basketball.

"The crazies make the games a lot more fun. Some of those chants they use give us a good laugh and we really have a good time at the games, but we need to stay serious at the same time. I can only imagine what the crowd is thinking."

The Crazies have helped the team for the better. They play better and their record shows it this season. The lead members of the Crazies can only hope that students carry this tradition on and that it only grows and gets bigger.