Being a student at Cal State Long Beach can be pretty monotonous sometimes.
Students wake up, go to school, go to work, try and stay awake to do some homework and then repeat the same schedule the next day.
It isn’t exactly what kids growing up fantasize about when thinking of college.
But this weekend is the perfect opportunity for CSULB students to unite, to feel like we are all part the university and to have fun at the same time.
The Long Beach State men’s and women’s basketball teams are competing in the Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, and the men are the favorites to take home the title.
If the men can pull it off and advance to the NCAA Tournament, it will be the biggest sports story at The Beach since the women’s volleyball team won the NCAA Championship in 1998.
LBSU will be in the consciousness of sports and non-sports fans from San Diego to Boston, as the American tradition of filling out NCAA Tournament brackets sweeps the nation.
That’s the big picture, but for CSULB students, the conference tournament is an opportunity for our diverse student body, from the Campus Progressives to the College Republicans and even the Daily Forty-Niner and Union Weekly staffs, to stand side-by-side for one common goal – a championship.
One of the major problems with CSULB is its lack of community. Although this problem is trying to be solved by building as many coffeehouses as humanly possible, the bottom line is that CSULB is a commuter school with too many students. Unless a student makes a conscious effort to get involved in a campus organization, it is very easy to get lost in the ant farm that is CSULB.
Making the trip to Anaheim this weekend for the Big West Tournament, and cheering on LBSU, is an easy way to feel a connection with fellow students at the university.
Even for non-basketball fans, who don’t know the difference between a foul shot and technical foul, the experience of chanting “Let’s go Beach,” with thousands of other 49ers, will be one of the most memorable college moments anyone could have.
Sports is one of the few things that can raise morale throughout an entire society.
In 1980, the United States was going through one of its lowest points in the 20th century.
The Cold War seemed to have no end in sight, American hostages were being held in Iran and the economy was in the toilet.
In February of that year, the Winter Olympics were held in Lake Placid, N.Y., in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, a group of amateur American hockey players beat the U.S.S.R., which was one of the greatest hockey teams ever.
The victory didn’t solve America’s problems, but for one night, a nation in turmoil at least felt like everything was going to be OK.
It doesn’t matter if the men’s basketball team wins or loses in the Big West Tournament. CSULB is still going to have some serious problems, but for students at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, those problems will feel far, far away.
Go Beach!
