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So you think you’re a fan
Secure the following and then we'll talk
By Jimmy Lemke
Instead of pestering friends for score updates, sign up for mobile alerts via UWMPanthers.com.
By the time you open the Post to this page and begin perusing the sports section, pausing for a moment to gaze longingly into my eyes, you're probably unpacked. Or you've at least organized your boxes of crap around your room in a sort of feng shui layout. Perhaps you've gone to your first couple classes, picked up your syllabus and quietly cheered to yourself when your professor dismissed the students because he too wants one more day of summer. Or maybe you've decided to get right into your study routine by not appearing in class at all.
In any case, you've decided things are going to be different this year. You're going to make this the best college experience ever.
You've decided you're going to drink, heavily. You're going to start a crazy new tradition of running through the fountain outside Curtin in only your boxers. You're going to order Jimmy John's[R] once a night, every night and never before one in the morning. And you're going to prove to everyone that no one loves the black and gold more than you.
Hold on there, Susie. Before you crack open that Blatz, display your Captain Morgan boxers to the campus and order that sweet #9 (mmm, Italian Night Club[R]), you have to properly arm yourself. You have to become the biggest fan of Milwaukee sports this school has ever seen. So here's a short list of essentials to get you started.
1. Panther Pack card. For those of you who were here last year, you remember the incarnation of the Panther Pack. A fantastic idea to build school spirit, Klotsche Krazies (that's you and your fellow Panthers) would bring their cards to every basketball game, where they'd get a stamp and a prize for every other game attended.
The Pack remains a great idea, but last year it showed its youth. I know my free sun tan, free Crank Daddy's ride and free chiropractic exam cards are still sitting on my desk, although I am a bit peaky.
This year it will be different. The new and improved key chain scan card will be impossible for you to forget at home. Instead of some bad prizes and some good ones, you'll accumulate points over the course of the year and be in line for a bunch of sweet prizes at the end of the year party. Flat-screen TV, anyone?
And no longer do you have to wait until Panther Madness to use it. This baby is ready and waiting as we speak – I got my first stamp on Aug. 22 when we stomped Wisconsin in soccer. The pass is also good for almost all the sports the university has to offer. You'll even be able to see how you compare to other students through the new Panther Pack Web site, launching soon from UWMPanthers.com. Maybe you can finish second to me.
2. Identifiable garb. Yes, you get issued a student section t-shirt for basketball games from the Student Black and Gold Club, as well as one from the Athletic Department's Panther Pack. But you've gotta stand out, son! Find that piece of apparel that displays the school spirit and puts you in a league all your own. Find your niche -- personally, I like to dress to impress with the sweater vest. Eric Henrichs will always be identifiable by the referee shirt. Kurt Smet dons the headband, Tom Dunne the retro shooting shirt. I’ll say it again – just make your mark.
3. Mobile alerts. You're back at home for the weekend because your aunt is getting married a third time. Due to the wedding and all the family fracas that comes with it, you're missing out on the big UWM-Marquette soccer game on Oct. 22. Personally, I'd ditch Aunt Lilly's funeral for the UWM-MU match, but you're not so heartless. Instead of pestering friends for score updates, sign up for mobile alerts via UWMPanthers.com. This way you can claim you're just so happy because Lilly has found love again, when the fact is you just found out Adam Skalecki drove home the winning goal to crush the dreams of those lousy future dentists. (http://uwmpanthers.cstv.com/wireless/)
4. The everyday hat. When you absolutely have to show your school pride every day of the week, the everyday hat is the way to do it. Lids/Hat World has long accomodated the Panther fan, shipping over a dozen hats emblazoned with the black and gold if you can't make it to Mayfair or Bayshore.
However, even better news is that the once-pathetic collection in the UWM Bookstore is now a full wall of possibilities. Sure, some are horrible (Golden spiderwebs? I don't get it), but some are wicked awesome. Make sure the hat you pick out doesn't have the logo with blue accents. Don’t worry, the athletic program has changed those to a much more appealing gray.
5. Presence. If you're going to be a true Klotsche Krazie, you're going to have to be there. It seems weird, going to a soccer match for fun. I was never a soccer or volleyball fan in high school. But UWM soccer and volleyball are great ways to spend a couple hours on campus when you don't want to study. Following the teams, going through the ups and downs of the roller coaster season and tasting sweet championship victory are all very rewarding experiences that I don't want any student on campus to miss. And sweet championship victory does come. Volleyball and women's soccer both won conference championships last year, and have great chances to do so again this fall.
The best thing about UWM, especially this year, is that you can go to any game and they will have a chance to win. Not only will they have a chance, but more often than not they will be playing with the house's money. So get out there, make your presence felt and maybe, just maybe, you'll prove that you're a Klotsche Krazie after all.
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