No-preference sophomore David Berkompas waits for the men’s basketball game against Ohio State University on Jan. 7, 2014, at Breslin Center. He was dressed in a complete polar bear suit in an attempt to battle the temperature outside, about 2 degrees below zero. Betsy Agosta/The State News
Temperatures below zero, a wind chill below 20 degrees and being on crutches couldn’t stop secondary education sophomore Tim Stark from lining up for Tuesday night’s basketball game.
“I can’t miss the basketball game,” said Stark, who had knee surgery during winter break. “The line isn’t that bad right now, I would usually get here two hours before.”
The Breslin Center and the MSU Police Department pushed back the allowed line-up time for the MSU vs. OSU basketball game on Tuesday to 6 p.m.
The decision was made due to the dangerous weather, Director for Future Alumni Dan DiMaggio said.
“We realized temperatures weren’t where they were supposed to be and we (had not) wanted to take chances of anyone getting injured because of the cold,” DiMaggio said.
Doors opened earlier to prevent people from having campouts outside, said marketing senior Matt Martin, who works at Breslin Center.
Police were inside the Breslin to make sure students came in from the cold, but they declined to comment.
DiMaggio said they patrolled the area during the day to make sure students did not line up.
But they couldn’t keep a line from forming around 6:30 p.m.
“I wasn’t dressed for a line, I’m wearing shorts, but it’s going to be hot inside the Izzone and it was only a five minute walk from the car,” said no preference sophomore David Berkompas.
Supply chain management junior Mackenzie Doane also said the crowd was not bad outside and knew there would be a line.
“We wanted to get here at 6:30 if not earlier,” Doane said. “We’d stay in a bundle and huddle up if we could’ve been here before.”
Doane said he and his friends would have lined up five or six hours before a big game, and if it was warmer “it would be a whole day thing.”
And students weren’t the only ones braving the cold to attend the basketball game.
Paul LaPerriere and his wife Boots LaPerriere have had MSU basketball and football season tickets for 40 years and said they weren’t going to miss the game.
“We came earlier because we didn’t know how bad the roads were,” Boots LaPerriere said. “We go to every game.”
Paul LaPerriere graduated from MSU, and both settled down in East Lansing when he graduated, moving from the Upper Peninsula.
The couple was in Indianapolis when the Spartan football team beat Ohio State and made the cross-country trip to Pasadena to watch them win the Rose Bowl.
“We are very spirited!” Boots LaPerriere said.
Some students, like pre-med sophomore Nicholle Rashleigh, felt that not having a line helped prevent the hectic rush into the Izzone.
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“I’m glad you weren’t allowed to wait,” Rashleigh said. “Usually a ton of people line up then run to get the best seats once they open the gates.”
