Dave's place - Pepperoni rally

By: David Cordill

Posted: 11/17/08

When I think of a pep rally, like the one advertised by the UMKC Athletics Department last week, I envision a vocal, raucous student body at fever pitch, egged on, perhaps, by a spirited cheer squad and a marching band.

I hear blaring horns, thundering percussion and feedback from a hot microphone. And, if the desired effect is achieved, I feel a sense of unity with my college comrades through our combined na've optimism as the celebrated team prepares for battle.

But at the UMKC men's basketball "pepperoni rally" Nov. 13 at the Oak Street dorms, I witnessed nothing of the sort. Instead, I saw a sparse assemblage of indifferent male and female students, some of whom were just waiting for free pizza.

Much like they have short-changed the highly competitive men's soccer team this season, the UMKC Athletics Department really dropped the ball on this one, folks.

Judging from my conversations and observations at the event, the poor showing was due to the lack of publicity. Apparently, nobody knew about the planned gathering, probably because the mass e-mail effort concerning the rally was not initiated until the day before the affair.

Other than the aforementioned electronic missives, promotion was non-existent. There was nary a sign on campus concerning the event.

Freshman Davarius McElroy, manager for the UMKC men's basketball team, agreed.

"It wasn't broadcast or publicized enough for anyone to know about it," he said.

The one sign I did see was inside the Oak Street dorms lobby where the alleged rally occurred. It advertised free pizza for the first 100 students in attendance.

But, with the small turnout, it seemed as if each person could have had a pie to themselves with still some leftover.

Approximately 40 people showed up at the event. This estimate is generous, as it included members of the men's basketball team and coaching staff, along with UMKC Athletics Department staff.

I asked one individual how he heard about the pep rally.

"What pep rally?" he replied. "I'm here for the pizza."

I couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

Another student was making it clear he could care less about event and simply wanted the players to hurry up and arrive so he could get some free grub before studying for a test.

While impatiently waiting, he proceeded to verbally express his dislike for team itself, and cursed at them for not getting to the event sooner.

I was embarrassed for the Kangaroo hoopsters who arrived after finishing up their practice.

They got to the dorms just as the pizza had cooled to below room temperature. (Yes, I compromised my journalistic integrity and had a couple of slices).

The team members stood around looking nearly dumbfounded at the lack of students at the event. One player even jokingly suggested pulling the fire alarm to get more people down into the reception area.

Making a brief speech, Head Coach Matt Brown maintained his enthusiasm and all but individually asked each person in attendance how many UMKC basketball games they've gone to and if they planned to attend the upcoming match up with the University of North Dakota.

"We scheduled this game at home [at the Swinney Recreation Center] because we're trying to get a lot of students to come," he told the meager assemblage.

For the men's basketball team's sake, I sure hope the student response is better than what it was at the pepperoni rally. I've attended receptions at Miller Nichols Library that have packed more punch.

dcordill@unews.com