Peoria or bust

Commentary

I don't care if you are not a volleyball fan.

I don't care if you are a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal that thinks female athletes should be wearing aprons instead of jerseys.

And I do not care if you have better things to do than wake up in Peoria at 10 a.m.

I want every able-bodied and navigationally equipped SIU student at Robertson Memorial Field House at Bradley University on Saturday - and I want you wearing maroon.

Not because the SIU volleyball team is a remarkable group of athletes who have left the Missouri Valley Conference dazed and confused, and not because the Salukis defeated second place Southwest Missouri State Friday in one of the greatest and gutsiest athletic performances I have seen at any level of any sport.

I want you there for one reason and one reason only - spite. Illinois State, the Salukis' first opponent at the MVC tournament, is a school and a fan base that should be loathed by all members of the SIU student body, especially for their atrocities during the fall of 2002.

They have cut the brakes of the Saluki bandwagon one too many times, and the volleyball team could use some help in showing those flying rats from the north and their fans some humility.

The following is a rap sheet of crimes against Salukidom that have been committed by the Redbirds in the past few months:

Team offenses

-Derailing the Saluki football team when it was on the verge of its first three-game conference winning streak since 1986.

-Making Muhammad Abdulqaadir seem mortal.

-Crushing the SIU volleyball team physically and mentally twice in a row. The Redbirds overcame an eight-point deficit to beat the Salukis at Davies Gymnasium and thoroughly pummeled them at Redbird Arena.

-Making Kristie Kemner cry.

Fan offenses

-Mercilessly pointing out that their volleyball team has beaten SIU 24 straight times.

-Annoyingly screaming "point, Illinois State" every single time their team scores. (If you ever watch a volleyball game at Redbird Arena, you will hear "point, Illinois State" in your sleep.)

-Calling Erica Miller "Mighty Mouse."

-Screaming unprintable insults at Lindsey Schultz and Carrie Shephard.

Those fans, with their unique sense of humor and annoying cards that say "point, Illinois State," will be present and impossible to ignore at the conference tournament, and it would be helpful if a sea of maroon were there to vice-grip their beaks shut.

Illinois State is only a half-hour from Peoria, which means a pseudo-home match for the Redbirds. ISU fans will not hesitate to make the short trip because volleyball, which is not normally considered a sport of great significance at other schools, is huge at Illinois State.

The Redbirds do not play in a gym or field house. They play in an Arena, complete with cheerleaders, a pep band, a pom squad, the school mascot and thousands of rabid fans.

Illinois State set an all-time record for volleyball attendance this season when 5,641 people filled Redbird Arena to see Stanford slaughter their team, so imagine how many will trek to Peoria to see a winnable match in the conference tournament.

Saluki fans can be passionate as well, which was displayed Friday at Davies Gymnasium when the crowd drowned out a "let's go Bears" chant that came from a horde of SMS parents with chants of "SIU, SIU."

"I got chills; I'm serious," said Kemner of Friday's fan fervor. "It was the first time I felt we had something else on our side. They had no chance at that time."

So bring that passion to Peoria. If it worked against SMS, imagine what a psychotic crowd could do against a lesser team like Illinois State.

It will most likely be your last chance to see SIU volleyball win for at least a couple years, so make it count. Scream at the top of your lungs and find an Illinois State player to call Mighty Mouse. No. 20 Wendi Roesch, who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, would be a prime candidate.

Carry a giant poster showing a Saluki with a bloody Redbird in his mouth and make sure the Illinois State players see it.

Be rude, be obnoxious, be passionate and above all, be plentiful. With your help, Kemner and company should gut the Redbirds.

Factoid: Student ticket prices are $3 for a single game, $7 for a tournament pass. Call 309-677-2625 for tickets.

Michael is a junior in journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.