We’re not Obama’s team

If you weren’t at Hoosier Hysteria last Friday, slap yourself. Twice.

Once for not being a true fan and again for missing the most defining moment of the 2009-10 men’s basketball season.

Early in the evening, Coach Crean, mic in hand, asked where his “new friend Wes” was seated.

Upon finding him, Crean pulled him out onto the court.

The frail 82-year-old man, decked out in Hoosier gear, practically trembled with excitement as he stood before 13,321 fans in Assembly Hall. Crean told the crowd that Wes Hovis was battling stomach cancer and was told by his doctors not to come to Hoosier Hysteria.

For those few seconds, everyone in Assembly Hall paused their clapping, put down their homemade big heads, and stopped swooning over Matt Roth.

We all zoned in on the two men on the court.

One, your average old man, ignoring serious health risks to see his favorite team play.
The other, a big-name coach, ignoring the expectations of big-name coaches in order to brighten one man’s night.

The crowd exploded with applause, and Wes pumped his fists. All 13,321 people became one in that moment, thanks to Coach Crean.

Crean’s famous reasoning of “it’s Indiana” is something only understood by Hoosiers. Our basketball program and University as a whole embodies a spirit not seen elsewhere in the country.

We’re different.

Hell, a friend of mine almost wet himself when the mop lady came out. That type of student passion, when sparked by Crean, unifies the diverse study body.

Our student section T-shirt should reflect that uniqueness.

IU Athletics started a contest for the design of this year’s student section T-shirt.
The top ten designs were put on the Athletics Web site, where people can vote on their favorite.

One of the ten designs features Crean’s face, in the Obama-style coloring with “HOPE” written underneath.

The political statement the shirt would make doesn’t belong in the basketball arena. It’s just not necessary. Fans don’t make the cold walk to Assembly Hall to be reminded of politics.

Mocking Obama’s logo will do nothing to further unify our student fans.
We shouldn’t be mocking anything, anyway. I can’t count the number of different ways I’ve seen Obama’s logos mimicked – on billboards, T-shirts and even Facebook profile pictures.

There’s no reason our student body can’t think up something more original.
Coach Crean is a different kind of coach. Most other D-1 coaches wouldn’t stay after every event to give autographs or offer free signed photographs on Twitter.

And I haven’t heard of too many other coaches pulling someone like Wes out of the crowd on big nights such as Hoosier Hysteria. Putting Crean’s image in an already overused mold does disservice to the ways he’s changed things around here.
When ESPN cameras span our students at games, we shouldn’t be walking advertisements for a politician.

Coach Crean is writing a new chapter in the story of IU basketball – a story already filled with the experiences of dedicated Hoosiers such as Wes.

Obama doesn’t have a role in this story.