By Mrs. Bauer
Soccer Mom

The Philadelphia Union has Sons of Ben. Arcadia Basketball has the Glenside Goonies. And Kuch Center was rockin’ as the season kicked off on Wednesday.

“We want to make it ultimately the toughest place to play in conference and be as loud as possible for 40 minutes. Our goal is to promote a better atmosphere for the fans and more importantly the players,” says Goonies organizer Marc Gottfried ’12, a Men’s Baseball player.  “I was really excited about the turn out last night.”

“The school spirit last night at the Men’s Basketball game was amazing, and the room was packed,” said Dr. Josh Blustein, beloved sports photographer and psych prof. If you’re thinking the The Goonies was a 1985 movie starring Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings), think again. The Glenside Goonies are a rowdy bunch.

“When the opposing team gets announced, we have newspapers in front of us. Then when they’re done announcing, we rip them up and wait for tip off, then we all throw them in the air,” says Gottfried. “Ten seconds after the starting lineup is announced, we do the ‘I believe’ chant.’ If you don’t know what this is, you have not been watching college basketball on TV. Stay tuned for next week’s Bulletin to see the Knights’ version.

“When the Knights are winning, get ready for ‘is that the scoreboard’ chant. The more people we get the better it will be!” says Gottfried, noting that the next home game is Monday, Dec. 5, vs. Rutgers-Camden. The women play at 6 p.m., and the men tip off at 8 p.m. Did Marc mention Goonies T-shirts would be for sale?

“It’s a fun activity that everyone can come to and support our fellow student-athletes. This summer, I worked in athletics and started thinking of some ideas about a student section name. It started with word of mouth, a Facebook page and Twitter.” The Glenside Goonies stuck.

“This was our first game, and it was a great event. It was so nice to see such a large group out to support our fellow students,” says Drew Hurchick, who no longer sports the spikey hair he took to Scotland his freshman year as part of FYSAE, made famous in Arcadia’s recruiting brochures. “I hope this extends to some of the other sports this season and next. Maybe we can go to soccer games, lacrosse games, etc. We look forward to going to the rest of the basketball team’s home games. T-shirts were available for the first Goonies to get to the game (and will be on sale Monday). Of course! We’d love more people to join us on Facebook, and we’d especially love it if more people would come join us at the games. I feel that since the University has been so helpful to growing the Athletics Department, the fans are coming out to show their support. The game last night was a great one, too, with some great plays being made by our players. It was definitely a great way to start the season.

Also spotted among the Goonies—Junior Jackie Law, one of the most amazing soccer goalies I’ve seen. And sophomore Sarah Volk-Perez, a soccer forward with a nose for the net. And many more. Were you there?

Photo by Josh Blustein