ISU vs Bradley

At the end of January, I attended the Illinois State University vs. Bradley University basketball game. Before I even went, I knew it was going to be an intense game, since Bradley and ISU are big rivals. The Monday before the game, three of my friends went and sat at the ticket office from 5:30 until 10:00, the time when tickets were available, to get tickets for a few of my friends and me. So, since they waited for so long to get the tickets, we all got really good seats. On Saturday, the day of the game, my roommate and two of our friends put on our matching “Buck Fradley” tee shirts and headed over to the arena. The place was absolutely packed. There were very few empty seats in the arena, because there were so many people coming to support both teams. Also, since both Bradley’s and ISU’s school colors are red and white, there was a sea of red tee shirts in the crowd. That kind of stunk, because it was hard to tell who was cheering for whom. The game was a really close one. The two scores were within about five points of each other for the majority of the game. Since the game was so close, the fans were going crazy yelling chants and waving signs the whole time. As the score went back and forth, the crowd seemed to get louder and louder. It was funny to look around and read some of the signs. One kid I know actually got removed from the game because of some signs he was holding up. Luckily, he talked to some official people, and they let him go back into the game. All the students sitting in the section we were in started cheering as he ran back down the aisle to his seat. It was quite a sight! Fortunately, after the intense game, the ISU Redbirds finished out ahead of their rivals, the Bradley Braves. At the end of the game, there was such an adrenalin rush; you could feel the energy coming from the court as the Redbirds took a victory photograph and fans rushed to the court.