Temple University Athletics
Fans, Players Embrace "White Out" Experience
2.12.12 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA -- Three days before Valentine's Day, the Temple Owls found a way to spread the love.
There were no chocolates or flowers or any of the traditional revelry, but there definitely were t-shirts.
8,000 of them -- in fact-- laid across the backs of every seat in the lower bowl of the Liacouras Center in addition to more than 9,000 white rally towels.
Earlier this week, the Temple Athletics department declared the nationally-televised matchup with A-10 conference foe Xavier a “White Out” game and encouraged fans to wear white to the evening's matchup.
Then, with helpful donations from the Temple Owl Club and Alumni Association, Temple took matters into its own hands to ensure that every fan could participate by giving away the shirts emblazoned with the familiar “I believe” slogan -- a nod to the popular chant that precedes the final moments of each home win.
As fans filed into to their seats in the minutes leading up to tipoff, the Liacouras Center morphed into a buzzing sea of white for the first time in its history.
During the team's pregame shootaround, senior Ramone Moore noticed the changeover when he saw student workers distributing the shirts on seats.
“I thought to myself, 'Wow, it's bright in here!'” he said of his first whiteout experience. “You always see White Outs on TV for things like NBA playoff games, and as a player, you want to be a part of that atmosphere.”
That atmosphere, punctuated by deafening chanting, was electric for the clash of two of the A-10's premier programs.
Xavier, having won or shared the A-10 regular season title for the past five seasons, came into tonight's meeting tied for second place in the division looking to snatch first place away from the Owls.
Instead, Moore and teammate Micheal Eric made sure that didn't happen. Moore posted his third 30-point game of his career while Eric cleaned up the glass by pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds.
“The fans were definitely a sixth man tonight,” Eric said after the game. “The Liacouras Center feels more like home -- like family.”
The most obvious example of the fan presence during the game?
“The towels waving,” he said. “From a player's standpoint, we weren't paying much attention to what the crowd was doing, but I remember a lot of fans waving towels during Xavier's free throws.”
As the clock ticked down the final seconds of regulation, both the team and fans were treated to more than a shirt and a rally towel.
At the buzzer, fans filling the entire lower bowl of the Liacouras Center were on their feet, fervently waving their towels in celebration of an 85-72 victory -- the team's eighth in a row.
“It was the first time I've seen the Liacouras Center like that,” said senior Juan Fernandez. “It helped us win the game.”
And the thoughts of the man who contributed more than a third of Temple's 85 points?
“You want to go out there and give your fans your best effort. I think we did that tonight. Everything about the game was hyped up. We just wanted to live up to it,” Moore said.
A t-shirt, a towel and an emphatic win over an extremely competitive A-10 rival?
Owls are spreading the love, indeed.
by Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com columnist
