By Alejandro Solana/Staff Writer
Cameron Crazies, eRUPPtion Zone, the Izzone and now the Rosenberg Rowdies.
All of these, except of course for the last one, should sound familiar to any college basketball fan as the more popular student sections around the country at their respective schools.
How about FIU?
Well now, thanks to a group of FIU students trying to create new school traditions for future Panthers, “partying at the beach” has taken on a completely new meaning for Panther fans going to watch senior forward Rakeem Buckles and the rest of the men’s basketball team, led by Head Coach Anthony Evans.
They call themselves the Rosenberg Rowdies, and you can hear them chanting and yelling at all of the FIU home men’s basketball games. Each member wearing the cliché beach attire, rocking their outrageous island shirts and oversized sombreros, sitting just behind the basket at the new Lime Court at the U.S. Century Bank Arena.
Started by senior Andrew de Mino and his group of friends who all attend FIU, the Rowdies have created what they hope will be a new culture and tradition at the school for students who are trying to get the most out of its campus life and athletics program.
De Mino, along with Joshua Rivera, David Kinne and Giorgio Izzo all decided one day to start going to the men’s basketball games wearing beach attire as a group, fitting the beach theme that the new Lime Court has given to the school. According to the group, they had grown tired of the dull atmosphere at the football games, and decided to take matters into their own hands.
“We were at the homecoming football game and the crowd was just non-existent. We sat around for a few hours thinking of ways to make these games better for not just us, but all of the students that are here at FIU,” De Mino said. “With the new court for the team being a beach, it was just a perfect idea to start up a beach crew that would go to every game and make them more exciting.”
The Rowdies, as they refer to themselves, believe that this is the perfect way to get students at FIU more involved on campus and enjoy their experience as Panthers more.
“Its not easy to get students to come out to the sporting events at our school because of the commuter nature at FIU. If the word got out of how much fun these basketball games truly are, then more and more people would attend the games making the student section a serious home court factor,” said De Mino, when asked why the stands are usually not full during games.
“We hope that people get creative with the beach attire and come out and enjoy the games as much as possible,” He continued.
Along with the beach attire, De Mino and the rest of the Rowdies have been thinking of new and different traditions that they hope to implement at the upcoming basketball games this season. A run around the new and improved FIU Nature Preserve after every FIU basketball team home win, and also staying to “pledge to thee dear FIU” with the singing of the Alma Mater after every home game.
“We are even considering wearing speedos to the games, we just want to make sure we won’t get in trouble,” De Mino said.
The U.S. Century Bank arena holds up the 5,000 people, with the highest attendance of the year so far nowhere near that number. According to sophomore Edward Marcos, this is exactly what is needed to get people out at the games.
“College Basketball is one of the more exciting events students can attend while going to a university, and it is awesome to see someone finally start making the games and the experience that comes with it more enjoyable and fun here at FIU,” Marcos said.
The Rosenberg Rowdies do have a Twitter page, @RosensRowdies, and also are on other social media sites that can be found through their twitter page. They hope for other Panther fans that are looking to get the most out of their college experience to join them for future home games and experience the Beach, as they get rowdy cheering on their school.
The Rowdies will be out at the next Panther home game partying at the beach, when FIU (8-7) will host the Old Dominion Monarchs (6-9) on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.