When English senior Isaac Hurley was 10 years old, he got the chance to shake Joe Dumars' hand before a Pistons game.
"It made my life," he said. "I talked to him, and I told him I wanted to be in the NBA and he said if I kept working hard, maybe I could make it one day."
Since that day, Hurley gained a love for his hometown team, the Detroit Pistons.
With the Pistons still in the hunt for an NBA championship, the Detroit Red Wings having made it to the conference finals and the Detroit Tigers off to a hot start, fans have been busy following these professional teams.
Hurley said East Lansing loves its Detroit sports, but passion for the Pistons is on a whole new level.
"Students here favor the Pistons because MSU is known as a basketball school," Hurley said. "Then there are those true fans, like myself, who have been following the Pistons since the days of the Bad Boys and have been through the good times and the bad."
Game day
The doors swing open and a herd of students swarm into the room. Chants of "Let's go, Pistons!" fill the air as fans are dressed in jerseys of their favorite players. Some cling their beer bottles together as the starting lineups are announced, while others grind their teeth in anticipation of the opening tipoff.
It is not even 7 p.m. Tuesday in East Lansing, and Buffalo Wild Wings is packed with fans waiting to watch the Pistons.
There is not an open seat in the restaurant as the ball is tipped, and Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals is underway.
A trip to the NBA Finals is on the line.
Fans eyes are glued to the multiple big-screen TVs throughout the room. The servers are sporting their Pistons jerseys and raffle tickets are being handed out with the prize of two tickets to upcoming playoff games.
"It is an explosive atmosphere in here during the Pistons games, especially late in the games when they are real close," said Aaron Weiner, general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings, 360 Albert Ave. "We attract a really enthusiastic crowd that love to come in and watch their team play, especially during this time of the year."
Luck of the hat
Chris Goulet sports a white mesh hat with the Pistons logo on the front and the NBA logo on the back.
He admits to wearing it almost every day.
The 21-year-old Lansing Community College student has tried to watch all regular season and playoff games this season, while sporting his lucky Pistons hat.
He says the local bars are a madhouse when Pistons playoff games are on.
"It is unbelievable when you got a line of fans waiting two hours before tipoff - all wanting to see the Pistons play," Goulet said. "Everyone who gets to the sports bars that early for games are true fans, and that's what makes it so fun."
The Pistons have been Goulet's No. 1 team since he can remember. He credits his love for the Pistons to their high level of enthusiasm, which comes from his favorite player on the team, Rasheed Wallace.
"He is a great player and brings so much energy to the team - it inspires them to play with a higher level of intensity," Goulet said. "Whether I am watching the game at a bar, at home or at the Palace, his personality always makes the game that much more exciting."
Eying the championship
With five consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, this era of Pistons basketball could qualify as being, what Hurley called, the "good times."
With this recent success comes high expectations from fans. As most East Lansing residents would say, anything other than a title would be a letdown.
If the Pistons are able to make another trip to the NBA Finals, East Lansing bars will have to prepare for a packed house.
Buffalo Wild Wings has a maximum capacity of 275 people, but Weiner says there is nowhere near 275 seats throughout the building.
"We welcome people to come in and stand by the bars when it gets really packed, like it has been the past couple weeks," Weiner said. "We start to get real crowded around an hour before the game starts, and we want people to be able to watch the games without having to wait around to be seated."
Bars will have to prepare for the Pistons rush as East Lansing fans pile in with hopes of one outcome - an NBA championship.
"Another title would be a dream come true," Goulet said.
"I have watched the Pistons since the days of Joe Dumars and Grant Hill, but now that I am older and have a better understanding of the game, to win it all would mean that much more."
Sean Merriman can be reached at merrim22@msu.edu.
