The black and gold rush: Students scramble to support the Rams
What some are calling the most highly anticipated sporting event at VCU in recent memory has created quite the buzz around campus, and students scurried to secure tickets.
Colin Kennedy
Contributing Writer
For VCU basketball fans, Saturday’s game against Butler represents the peak of the Rams’ inaugural season in the A-10.
It serves as the climax of a successful year that, for all intents and purposes, reintroduced VCU basketball into the national spotlight.
And it is finally here.
What some are calling the most highly anticipated sporting event at VCU in recent memory has created quite the buzz around campus, and students scurried to secure tickets.
For some, that obstacle has been conquered. But for most, the view from their couch will have to suffice.
That’s because tickets have been sold out since the day they went on sale back in October, according to a spokesperson from the Stuart C. Siegel Center Box Office.
The high demand for tickets might stem from the fact that the two schools have a combined three Final Four appearances in the last three years.
Or it might be because VCU possesses one of the most faithful fan bases college basketball has to offer.
Either way, the frenzy is finished. And if you don’t already have a ticket for Saturday’s game against Butler in hand, you likely won’t be attending.
The scramble concluded Tuesday morning when the last portion of student seats were distributed at the Stuart C. Siegel Center Box Office.
Hundreds of Rams fans lined the sidewalks surrounding the arena in hopes of obtaining tickets.
Those who crawled out of bed early enough were fortunate. Those who didn’t weren’t.
But both parties will tell you that the task has taken a toll.
For VCU freshman Varun Challa, a restless night of sleep preceded his early 7 a.m. wakeup call.
“I couldn’t stop worrying about the availability of tickets,” Challa said. “I was here at 8 a.m. and the line was already pretty long.”
VCU junior Matt Klein wound up on the shorter side of the stick.
“I got here 30 minutes after the box office opened up and I’ll be going home empty handed,” Klein said. “I guess the early bird really does get the worm.”
With all the worms to be had now gone, many will be forced to observe VCU’s first nationally televised game of the season on ESPN2.
The 12 p.m. tipoff means that many of the luckier students like Challa will be camping outside the Siegel Center starting Friday evening.