By Monty Siekerman
There's more to a basketball game than action on the court. Monty Siekerman photographed some of the important unsung heros of ONU sports during Saturday night's game. Here's what he saw:
• Mike Miller has been the announcer for women's basketball at ONU for five years, an announcer as good as you've ever heard, even at major sporting events across the country.
Also, he announced ONU's football games for the first time last fall. His "day job" is host of the 1150 WIMA Morning Show in Lima. His voice puts excitement into whatever is announced, from a Lady Bear scoring a three pointer to who comes and goes off the court.
Speaking of voices, the crowd Saturday night heard Adrianne Thompson-Bradshaw sing the "National Anthem" in such a way as to bring tears to your eyes. When she hit the high notes toward the end of the song, the crowd let out a cheer and applauded.
• Larry Busch (left) has been ONU's shot clock keeper ever since the shot clock became part of collegiate basketball...about 25 years for men and 15 for women...and he's been part of ONU for 55 years.
Larry graduated in electrical engineering from ONU in 1963 and immediately began work at the university. He developed the computer system, headed it up for many years, and continues now as research grant analyst. Long ago, his computer system consisted of punch cards and many big machines in a humidity-controlled room.
He said the small tablet used by this reporter/photographer probably has more power and speed than a roomful of computers in the 1960s. Times have changed. He has seen ONU's computing grow from infancy to today's sophisticated system.
• With half of his face orange and the other half black, Taylor Lauck leads the ONU crowd in the wave during halftime. He said he was at the Elite 8 game on Saturday night to support his fourth cousin, Brittany Lauck, one of ONU's good players. Taylor, 12, attends Shawnee Middle School.
• "Give me a B...an E...an A...an R...an S...what does that spell? BEARS!" Don Traxler, retired education prof and former mayor, leads cheers at the basketball game on Saturday at King-Horn. The Lady Bears are without cheerleaders, so Don took it upon himself to get the crowd vocally behind the local team during their Elite 8 game. He attends many athletic contests at ONU throughout the year.
• A contingent of ONU students, mostly members of the football and lacrosse teams, cheer a three pointer scored by an ONU player Saturday night at King-Horn. With the university on spring break, there were not a lot of students on hand for the games last weekend or this weekend, but local Ada residents and nearby alumni turned out in force to support the Lady Bears.
