Cadets make for unique basketball experience

I used to be a pretty proud member of the student cheering section at Kaukauna High School, and I remember how much fun that could be. My cohorts and I knew a lot about the top players in the conference -- and thus, we knew precisely which players to ridicule in an effort to give our Galloping Ghosts the edge.

It was kind of empowering, in a way, to get on a player's case and try to have any influence we could on the floor action. I confess to using the same tactics in college -- especially at women's games when a fan was more likely to be heard.

That can be a rush for a high school kid, so I try not to judge when I see that behavior today -- fans specifically singling out one or two players in an attempt to garner their team the advantage.

But I have to admit, it makes me wince. It's hard enough being a high school kid, let alone one subjected to public humiliation, trying to succeed in a difficult game while enduring (or trying to shut out) the taunting simultaneously. Without trying to sound like an aloof sportswriter hollowly preaching the moral high ground, I often just wish the student sections would let it go.

Which brings me to St. John's Northwestern Military Academy. I battled last Tuesday's snow storm to watch the Lancers battle Milwaukee Hamilton, one of the best teams in the state with probably the best junior class in the state. Hamilton won the contest, but it served as a reminder of how unique and awesome the St. John's experience can be.

A sidebar: I'm not all that familiar with the St. John's campus, having attended only two games at the fieldhouse before, so trying to find parking (where there is no lot) in the dark and driving snow storm proved to be a challenge. That's saying more about my challenged directional ability than the campus parking situation -- but in my twisting and turning to get to the fieldhouse once I stashed my car in a (hopefully legal) parking spot, I wound up smack dab in the middle of a cemetery. I felt pretty irreverent and ridiculous, thinking how strange that despite the high-profile nature of the game, the setting wasn't really typical for a high school contest.

And that's true in more ways than one. There isn't much seating to speak of at the St. John's fieldhouse, and there certainly wasn't a crowd that would befit a clash between two teams figuring prominently in the state-title discussion. But the building has a tremendous amount of character, with a gigantic American flag on one end ... and the wall of cadets on one sideline.

It's intimidating enough playing in that building, with all its history, let alone with a student section filled with young men in military uniform and the rest in matching red shirts that proclaim their importance as "The 6th Man." I was told by one fellow onlooker that all cadets not on duty are required to attend the game, which would explain the sizable turnout in the middle of the wintry chaos.

Like your average student section, there are premeditated chants, choreographed antics and lots of volume. But the cadets do not latch onto opposing players, do not often criticize the officiating and manage to turn the place upside down with an entirely positive vibe.

It's partly the discipline that comes with the academy lifestyle, and it's partly the leadership of those on staff who insist on this level of behavior, and it's comforting to know that it can happen that way. It's hard to imagine a wall of 100-some teenage boys screaming in unison and not having something negative to say, but these guys truly know how to give their team an advantage without being brutal to the opponent.

When Pewaukee eliminated St. John's from the playoffs last year, the lasting image in my head is the enormous traveling party of cadets rumbling in the stands, providing the same high-road enthusiasm. St. John's is awfully good this year, and it would be something else to see those cadets on TV again with the Lancers playing at the Kohl Center in Madison.

(Pictured: St. John's fans cheer on the Lancers at last March's regional contest at Pewaukee).