I was enjoying the game from my front-row seat in The Nest Saturday with the rest of the crazed basketball fans. It was a close game against Bowling Green, and at one point, we were down by nine. We kept cheering for the players hoping they would somehow come back from their rut. The jumping and screaming seemed to have the desired effect on the players, because in the second period the team had an 11-0 run.
Fans cheered. The crowd stood and not even the buzzer indicating Bowling Green's shot clock violations could be heard over the wailing student section.
I watched intently as the ball was dribbled, passed and shot. Then some foreign object came out of nowhere and prevented me from seeing one of the most vital moments in the game.
What was the thing that blocked my view? And more, who had the nerve to obstruct my view of the very game I had waited hours to see?
The answer is: a giant cone held by one of the male cheerleaders on the squad.
I couldn't actually be mad about something like the cheerleaders simply doing what they do best - screaming to get the crowd riled up - even if it meant holding large cones in the air in the direct field of vision of the audience and completely cutting off any possibility for them to actually watch the game.
This might not seem like a valid complaint, but to all the students who sway back and forth trying desperately to sneak a peek at the game they came to see, well, it most certainly is.
The cheerleaders, however, cannot be blamed for doing their jobs. So another solution must be thought up in order to maintain a positive situation for the cheerers and fans alike. I've taken it upon myself to come up with such a solution: invisible cones.
Unless the fans are weaving in and out of traffic, they don't really need to be able to see the cones, anyway.
As outlandish a proposition as this sounds, it's really quite brilliant. The cheerleaders can continue to flail about as they please, and the fans can go right on enjoying the game. It will have a less-distracting effect on our players, because the bright white ones they have now definitely attract more attention and could easily break the players' concentration.
Clear cones open the door of endless possibility. Just imagine what they could do!
They would be more powerful tools for the cheerleaders because they would have the element of surprise. Unless they're focusing on the cheerleaders - which they won't be - the other team won't know when the cones are raised, making the chants much more effective and distracting.
It would also be more of a threat to the opposing players if they could look directly at all of the angry faces in the student section. Talk about intimidation.
I'm not going as far as saying the players' game or overall records will improve by replacing the white cheering cones with clear ones, but it would definitely make for a more enjoyable experience for the spectators in The Nest.
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