CampHoosier

I intended on coming here and reflecting on the 10 year anniversary of the IU-UK game on December 10th but unfortunately work got in the way. As I type this, I am sitting in a hotel room 45 minutes outside of Chicago unable to sleep before heading back to a job site so here we go. 

The Idea

Monday December 5th was a formative day in my life. Myself and six friends met up to watch the Chargers and Jags play Monday Night Football. IU-UK was coming up and we decided to weigh in on our chances and when we should get in line for general admission. Only one season prior had GA been introduced and usually students would file in about ten minutes prior to the game. GA often went half filled and balcony students moved down to fill it out. "What if we took a tent and camped out the night before the game?" I remember our friend Tim asking.  We were in. We made plans to arrive Friday afternoon outside of Assembly Hall and set up a makeshift campground. We all went home excited. I talked with my then girlfriend that night about our plans. "It's a funny idea but they're going to lose" she remarked. "Maybe" I said. Maybe not, I thought. 

All In

Why the hell not us though? I remembered watching Indiana as a kid and my family expecting a victory every time we sat down to watch. Hell, they play enough highlights pregame showing a winning culture. They show us champions before each game. After all of this BS since I arrived on campus in 2008 don't I get a taste of what I'm being fed? Why the hell not us? I sent a text to the crew the next morning telling them that we needed to show the players and staff that we were behind them. We needed to go big. Thursday. We need to go Thursday. We need to emulate championship programs and show everyone we believe and we are hungry for success. "It's freezing. This is going to be nuts. I'm all in dude!" I knew Tim would love the idea. Tim and I had an unhealthy obsession with Indiana Basketball. It still borders on insanity. "Why not just go Wednesday and go in shifts? It would be pretty amazing" another friend chimed in. "Yes!" I replied. When I opened my phone after class the next day I had 10 texts. I read the first one. "Tim is setting up the tent now." It's Tuesday. The kid has the itch. I ran to my car and drove up. I saw a blue tent next to the south entrance. We are all in now. 

Circus

We expected some students to be confused and take some pictures of our makeshift campground Tuesday evening. We did not expect the circus that was about to happen all around us. That night, all seven of us sat in lawn chairs and drank coffee. Two guys walked up with camping gear at about 8pm. We had started something. A couple of administrators came out with an entourage of police as night set in. "There's a policy against sleeping outdoors on campus. It has been in effect sine the protests in the '60s and '70s. Pack it up and go home." "What if we don't sleep and get rid of the tent?" I found myself saying. Looking back I think I was just being a punk and challenging authority to be honest. "That's up to you. We can't stop ya." So we stayed. We sat out in chairs all night freezing our asses off. By morning, Twitter had caught on. Dustin Dopirak came. Zach Osterman came. Indy stations came. More campers came. Chronic Hoosier revealed his identity to us and gave us a nice gift. Pizzas came pouring in with well wishes from New Albany to New York. Coffee came by the carafe. Ken Bikoff brought Panera. People drove by and honked so often that the sound of a car horn was more frequent than an uttered word. Several protestors from "Occupy Bloomington" began heckling us about being privileged college students who mocked homelessness and knew nothing of fighting for a cause. A fraternity tweeted from an official account telling us to "go back to our shanties." What had started out as a positive experience was turning in to something negative quickly. Administrators and police would go through the camp regularly to check for alcohol or drugs and were always angry to not find any. "What a ****show" I remembered our buddy Ryan saying. It truly was. Kentucky Sports Radio sent one Jimmy John's sandwich with a note stating "You can split this! By the way, we wrote a nice blog about you." It's still up. Here's an excerpt: "Students are still trying to assemble without supplies by claiming their spots with poster board signs. Eventually, one of these people has to come to the realization that 15-20 people standing outside in the cold with a poster isn't a "camp." That's just a "group of 15-20 people standing outside in the cold with a poster." I hope they come to that realization on Thursday afternoon. It's okay to laugh, Kentucky fans. Bless their little hearts. I almost feel bad for them. Almost."

To this day I call in to KSR every once in a while to remind Drew Franklin exactly what he is. He didn't have the decency to tip the Jimmy John's driver by the way. We did. Great prank bud. Our rage was at a fever pitch.

The End

I went and took a midterm late Wednesday and then headed back to the Hall. A younger guy in a sharp looking suit was addressing the now 14 member movement. I ran up to listen in. "I am Scott Dolson and I'm the Assistant AD. I want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. This has been tremendous and I know all of us in the Department are humbled by the enthusiasm you have brought. It's time to go home now though. Bad weather is coming in and you guys need to be warm and rested for classes." I started to chime in angrily. "Now wait hold on. I'm getting to the good part. I'm giving you guys vouchers. You're first in line for Saturday. Be here at 3:30 and we will put you in front. Is that a deal?" "Hell yes sir! Go Hoosiers!" Ryan said. We sang the fight song. We got our stuff and went home. "We better ****ing win now!" Conor exclaimed. Yeah, I thought. Please God let us win.

Now

We all know what happened. It was the best day of my life. Better than my wedding. I was so pleased to see students showing up and showing out the the Purdue game. Those students had every right to not be excited for this program. It had been as bad as when we got there 10 years ago. They showed up though because it's different here. Thank you students for reminding me that there's always better time ahead if you believe enough. Keep supporting this team and keep showing America that it just means more here. I'll close out with a tip: keep the Jameson hidden. 

-Richard '12