The trek down to Tucson started with optimism and ended with ecstasy.
As the tour bus departed Taylor Place shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday an impromptu chorus of the ASU fight song broke out. The mood was hopeful, if not entirely confident.
“I think we have a chance,” said Chad Ellsworth, assistant director for Downtown campus recreation, who went along on the trip as a chaperon. “Rivalry games level the playing field.”
Eight and a half hours later, as the bus loaded up to pull out of Tucson, it was flooded with raucous chants of “ASU! ASU!”
The Sun Devils’ thrilling double-overtime victory against the University of Arizona Wildcats left many speechless, others hoarse, and still more bubbling over with excitement.
“I feel like we just won the Super Bowl!” said journalism freshman Brittany McGonagle.
“It’s better,” chimed in sophomore Robert Baker, a fellow journalism major. . “We beat U of A!”
The ASU football team brought the excitement on the field with the help of two blocked extra points and a host of downtown students were there to experience it, thanks to the university-organized Turnaround Trip to the game.
Co-sponsored by the Programming and Activities Board and ASU’s Gameday Initiative, the trip brought five busloads of students from the four campuses down south to watch this year’s round of the Territorial Cup. The Downtown campus was well represented, filling a bus with 52 students.
For $30, students got a ticket to the game and transportation to and from the stadium. As Ellsworth pointed out, many students lack cars, so the trip gave them an opportunity they might not have had otherwise.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “Most people couldn’t get down here any other way.”
The journey down was relatively uneventful, occasionally punctuated by laughter at the absurdity of “The Hot Tub Time Machine” playing on the bus’s DVD system. Excitement began to build as the bus entered Tucson. A cheer went up as it rounded a corner and Arizona Stadium came into view.
As the buses disgorged their occupants, the energy level and anticipation built even further.
“If we play the right way,” senior Kenny Wiebe said, “I think we can win.”
Along the way to the stadium, ASU fans were heckled by the hostile Arizona faithful, but also cheered on by a few other maroon- and gold-clad fans.
Once inside the stadium, journalism sophomore Matt Wittenberg, a Tucson native, expressed his distaste for the city and its university.
“It kind of stinks here,” he joked.
The ASU contingent was loud and energized throughout the game, and its section erupted into bedlam after Arizona’s last extra-point attempt fell short.
Back on the bus amidst the ecstatic reactions of those who saw the game unfold, freshman Shayla Brown, a member of the nursing school, said witnessing the game was definitely worth the trip.
“My voice is gone,” she said. “It was beautiful!”
Contact the reporter at jacob.wipf@asu.edu
