Before every men's basketball game, they flock to Worthen Arena.Like birds on a wire, they perch themselves along their nest on the south end of the arena. For 40 minutes, they chirp and cackle.They are the students of Ball State University and they occupy "The Nest" - the student section for Ball State men's basketball games.Saturday's men's game against Butler will be "Nest Appreciation Night." The event will include DVD and CD giveaways, students in The Nest will receive a free T-shirt, and the first 1,000 students will receive a commemorative poster. Chris Taylor, Director of Gameday Experience for Ball State athletics, said the appreciation night is a way for the athletic department to reward the student section for their support of the team."Saturday's our way to thanking the students for coming out in big numbers last year to our men's basketball game." Taylor said. "We want to show our appreciation for that."The Nest was formed last season during a contest to name the student section. Since then, the Nest has become the number one student section in the Mid American Conference, averaging nearly 1,000 students per home game last season. The Nest also nabbed a first-place national award for being the number one student section promotion last year by the National Association of College Marketing. Taylor, though, is quick to give most of the credit to the students for the success of the Nest."The students won the award; it's what they did and how they reacted," Taylor said. "It's what they created is why we won."The excitement and atmosphere of the Nest has carried over from last season to this season. In Ball State's home-opener against Oakland City, nearly 1,200 students populated the Nest during the Cardinals victory.The players say they feed off the atmosphere generated by the Nest, and junior guard Skip Mills said the students help the players get in the game."I hear them screaming after a huge play or dunk, and that keeps you motivated to keep playing harder when you hear the students cheering like that," Mills said.
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