As my time here at Miami University rounds third and heads home, I cannot help but think about the past four years. One of my favorite sports writers, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, does an excellent job of organizing his opinions in a column by listing random thoughts he has on a particular topic. Therefore, in the same spirit, here are my five "random" thoughts on my time here in Oxford:
For those of you who were not here to see the old Goggin Arena, you missed out on something special. While it certainly lacked some of the new age advancements we have in the new Goggin Ice Center, this place could really get loud. Only experiencing it for one year, I saw some fantastic games during Miami's CCHA regular season championship season of 2005-06. Without question, the best game I ever saw there was the unforgettable "two goals in 22 seconds" game versus Western Michigan. Down a goal with under one minute remaining, Miami scored the tying goal and then the winning goal in 22 seconds. When the RedHawks netted the game-winning goal, the crowd reached a state of excitement rarely seen in sports. Part of me worried the building would collapse. While it did not fall, stories have been told about benches (because there were not any seats, only bleacher benches) that broke due to the celebrations. It was an incredible game in an incredible arena that had a personality rarely seen in today's sporting venues.
With all that being said, the Goggin Ice Center today is an incredible building on this campus because it did something that I did not think could be done here at Miami: It created huge enthusiasm in a Miami sports team. When it opened during my sophomore year, the Goggin was the place to be on the weekends. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Miami students would line up hours early for a game. Imagine my surprise when students slept outside the arena in tents before the series versus Michigan the past two seasons! As much as I enjoyed the old Goggin, the new arena has provided a great atmosphere for Miami hockey.
My greatest disappointment during my time here was the lack of attendance at Miami basketball games. College basketball is one of the best sports to attend, especially if you are a student. You can be loud, rowdy and cheer
differently than you would at a professional sporting event. Even better, in Millett Hall you can sit very close to the court and get much closer to the athletes than you could at other schools. During my time here, the RedHawks have always been solid and contended for MAC Championships. Therefore, the games were usually competitive and meaningful. My request to all underclassmen is to go and check out a game next season. You just might find that you enjoy it.
Whenever I think about Miami basketball, the first thing that will inevitably come to mind will be the 2007 MAC Championship. This was the infamous "Doug Penno" shot. This was the greatest game I have ever been to as I was lucky enough to attend the game at Quicken Loans Arena. Down two points with less than seven seconds left, Miami rebounded a missed Akron free throw and made a three-point shot at the buzzer to advance to the NCAA Tournament. I will never forget seeing the ball swish off the backboard and then running onto the court to celebrate with the RedHawk faithful. It was an unforgettable, dream experience that put Miami at the top of the sports headlines.
Sitting here today, a few words spring to mind when I think about Miami athletics. The first is "hope." After being around some of the Miami football coaches this past semester, I have a strong sense of hope Coach Michael Haywood and his regime can turn this program around and bring back the winning Miami tradition. They preach discipline and organization as their philosophy for success, and I believe this can translate to victories on the field. The other words that come to mind are "love and honor." We hear and sing these words often, but they never made more sense than after Miami hockey's loss to Boston University. While much has been written about the heartbreaking defeat, I will echo some of the comments already made. I have never been prouder to say that I attend Miami University, and that I am a Miami RedHawks fan. I leave Oxford with a sense of pride that I did not have four years ago. Love and honor to Miami, forever and a day.
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