Dawg Pack camps out for Arizona game
February 25, 2005
Want to be the first student in line for tomorrow Husky basketball showdown with Arizona?
Too late.
Minutes after Washington's 90-82 victory against Arizona State last night, a group of about 30 students erected six tents in front of Hec Edmundson Pavilion, 40 hours in advance of tomorrow's 1 p.m. tip-off against No. 9 Arizona.
Roommates Adam Sanders and Greg Eisele began brainstorming the possibility of the lengthy camp-out after the Huskies' home game against UCLA earlier this month. In order to guarantee themselves a spot, Sanders and Eisele had a friend hold them a space outside the arena for last night's entire second half.
The crew exited the arena 30 seconds before the end of the game to secure their places in line.
"As much as anything, it's just to show the team how dedicated we are as fans," said Sanders, a junior who requested time off of work so that he could sleep out in the cold for two nights. "We will sacrifice a couple of days to show our support."
The small town of tents features heaters, propane, television and other household amenities. With a barbecue on its way, the group expects to live on a steady diet of steaks and delivered pizza.
While the cluster of students will likely set some sort of school record for the amount of time spent waiting to be admitted to a game, most students have previous experience camping outside of the arena. Sanders and Eisele were among many students who spent the night outside the arena before the Huskies hosted N.C. State in December and also before last year's home contest against Stanford.
This time, Eisele said the group had the incentive to set up their tents an extra 24 hours in advance.
"The other times there were always some people in front of us," Eisele said. "I just want to be first in line, for once."
Washington players hadn't even left the arena before learning of the students camping outside. Upon hearing the news, senior guard Will Conroy simply whistled quietly.
"I'm going to have to come back and kick it with those boys," Conroy said.
"That's big time," added teammate Nate Robinson. "They're showing the love. They're ready. We're ready."
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