Perfecting the art of fandom

The term “Cinderallas” was popularized in the 1980 film, “Caddyshack,” a comedy starring Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield. But nowadays, it always seems to pop up the most during March Madness. Every year’s round of tournaments has its so-called “Cinderellas”: the teams that few people expect to go particularly far in the tournament until they come out in full force to pull off the upsets. There’s a reason why filling out that bracket is an art and not a science. You never know when a No. 8-seed is going to stun everyone and win it all like Villanova did in 1985.

Until Kentucky’s Brandon Knight scored the last layup in the waning seconds of last Thursday’s NCAA Princeton-Kentucky battle, it looked like Princeton was ready to become the next bracket-ruiner. I even received a text message from a friend back home expressing how angry she would be if Princeton got her bracket off to a bad start. But I was too busy to reply, considering that I was there in Tampa, witnessing the Tigers give Kentucky all they could handle.

Even though the game didn’t end up in Princeton’s favor, it was still a thrilling end to the season — and the excitement wasn’t just on the court. The contingent of fans decked out in orange and black showed up ready for a good match-up. There were two Princeton students dressed in orange body suits who were leading cheers throughout the entire game. There were the cheerleaders screaming their hearts out every time Kentucky learned what it means to get “Kareemed,” as one of the fan-made signs would say. There was the Princeton University Band (successfully) messing with the Kentucky players by counting down their shot clock early. There was the Princeton Tiger mascot pulling off stunts, such as casually reading a copy of USA Today while the Kentucky team was taking the court.

And of course, there were all the people who were rooting for Princeton through their television and computer screens. One person I talked to said that he watched the game at 3 a.m. while in Beijing. Now that’s devotion. If there’s one thing that no government filter should attempt to block, it’s the Princeton men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament.

The majority of the crowd was dressed in Kentucky blue and white, but the Princeton section seemed far more excited, probably because we haven’t been to the tournament since 2004. At one point, we even did the “I believe that we will win” chant, which essentially involved all the fans jumping up and down at the same time. Apparently it’s become a recent favorite — or perhaps a curse: Harvard fans did it during the Princeton-Harvard game the previous Saturday. Intimidating as it may be, the success record I’ve witnessed is 0-2. It’s a small sample size, but considering, it might be more appropriate after the end of games as “I believe that we have won.”

Still, I was proud of the enthusiasm on our side. For much of the game, the Kentucky fans seemed like they were politely watching a tennis match. There were moments where they did show some spirit, however. One highlight was when a person yelled, “You guys are smart, but hey, I know chemistry too! It’s called my meth lab!” But of course that doesn’t even compare to the final few minutes, when everyone in the stadium stood up to make some ground-shaking noise every time anyone made a basket.

Some Princeton fans came equipped with slightly more disparaging signs than “Beat Kentucky,” though I doubt any of them were shown on CBS. One particularly snarky sign read, “Douglas Davis actually took his SATs,” and another, “Calipari buys student-athletes” with the student part crossed out. Both were references to Kentucky head coach John Calipari’s past controversies at other schools.

In a way, being the underdog was what made the game so incredibly memorable. Sure, it’s fun to watch the perennial powerhouses, but March Madness is just as much about the teams involved as it is about the final scores. Feel-good stories, such as that of George Mason reaching the Final Four in 2006, are what people remember years later. Personally, I know I’ll remember Butler being inches away from pulling off a game-winning, buzzer-beating, half-court shot against Duke last year more than I’ll remember Duke’s winning its fourth championship. And now, Princeton knows what it feels like to successfully challenge a team that most people thought would cruise to victory.

When it comes down to it, both teams start at zero, and what counts is how the players perform for those 40 minutes on the court. Mavraides, Maddox and company proved just that fact during their short stint in the Big Dance, when they gave Princeton fans everywhere a performance to remember.