The Mississippi State basketball season officially begins tonight.
Some of you just felt an adrenaline rush shoot through your body. Others of you just started laughing.
No matter which end of the spectrum you fall on, the time has come and there’s no avoiding it.
Although both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are in a transitioning stage, there’s no hiding for us as Bulldog fans. We can’t hibernate and awaken when baseball starts in the spring. We can’t push basketball to the side and say, “Well, by the time football is over, baseball will be less than two months away, so we can just focus on that.”
As tempting as that may sound, this is the time for Bulldog fans to kick it into gear and bring their A game.
Looking ahead, the football team can anxiously await games with Arkansas and Ole Miss. Looking ahead, the MSU fan base can anxiously await the arrival of baseball, softball and tennis in the spring.
But Bulldog fans cannot look ahead just yet. The focus must be on what is happening now at MSU.
With Rick Stansbury gone, Rick Ray is ready to take control of the men’s basketball team. Ray already displayed his intentions for the team when he dismissed Kristers Zeidaks and Shaun Smith earlier this semester for repeated violations of team rules.
State fans were tired of the poor behavior from basketball players, and, occasionally, their lack of effort on the court.
Ray made it clear early on he would not tolerate such attitudes or actions.
On the court, I don’t have to tell you the dilemma Ray finds himself in, and the most recent devastation of Andre Applewhite’s torn ACL and meniscus sidelining him for the season doesn’t help matters.
But Ray is here for a reason. He knows what he’s doing, and as a fan base, we have to trust his decision making. It will only make the situation more difficult if we don’t show up and pack the Hump every game.
On the women’s side, new head coach Vic Schaefer is the real deal. The intensity has risen from years past, and although the team lost six seniors and the bulk of its scoring, I am excited to see the fresh faces perform.
Sharp Shooter Jessy Ward and 6’1″ Sherise Williams join a Bulldog team led by three-point-specialist Kendra Grant.
Women’s basketball hasn’t seen much support in the past, and that falls on us as a fan base. How can we expect a team to work hard day in and day out to please a fan base that doesn’t even show up to support it?
This year, the basketball teams need the MSU fans more than ever.
It’s a lot easier to perform your best with the encouragement and cheers from a supportive fan base. And who knows, we just may be pleasantly surprised at the results from the Hump at the start of a new era.
Will we step up to the challenge and support the Bulldogs not only in the best times, but in the more difficult times, as well?