Milwaukee Panthers
Jimmy Lemke (Black Panther MKE)
Name of the student section: The Klotsche Krazies, named after the first UWM Chancellor, J. Martin Klotsche. The athletic department, in 2008, started a rewards program called the "Panther Pack" to get students to go to games. With that, they put a big banner in front of us with the Panther Pack name. We're not big fans of it. I mean, panthers don't even run in packs.
But there is some dissent among even our own student fans because they think the Klotsche Krazies name is too close to Duke's Cameron Crazies, even though our name predates the Duke student section. We play at the U.S. Cellular Arena, so a lot of people suggest we go in as "the Cell Block," but U.S. Cellular refuses the name for some reason. I wanted to change it to that when I was a freshman until the older student leaders educated me on what really was the case. The Klotsche Krazies name takes a lot of
At the end of the 2009-10 season, we ran as "Jeter's Jungle" (after head coach Rob Jeter) when now-confirmed rumors of then-A.D. George Koonce trying to oust Jeter by cutting a majority of his staff came out. The student leaders, including myself, decided to go as Jeter's Jungle to show our 100% support of coach Jeter, who we feel has us on the cusp of true postseason success. Now that Koonce has resigned and Jeter is still here, I think our time as "Jeter's Jungle" will be a moment of defiance in our history as the Klotsche Krazies. To continue as the JJ's in the future would be a detriment to the significance of our movement at the end of the 2009-10 season.
Here's a link to read more about the KK's:
www.pantheru.com/page/klotsche-kraziesHow long has it existed in its current state?
The Klotsche Krazies have been an active, die-hard student section since around 2000-01. The name came about in the 1970's when then-chancellor J. Martin Klotsche was called crazy by a long-forgotten opponent who thought Klotsche's support of athletics and the arts was ridiculous. A few days later, some student supporters came to the UI-Chicago Circle (now UIC) game with a sign that said "We're Klotsche Crazy." While the support died down when we left D-I in 1980, it steadily grew after we came back to D-I in 1990 until it blew up following our Sweet 16 appearance in 2005.
Does your student section require/recommend a certain shirt (or shirt color) be worn?
Until the 2007-08 season, there was a definitive student section t-shirt from 2001-02 and on. That year, we didn't have one due to very sparse attendance (about 50-100 a game). The last two years, we've gotten t-shirts late in the season, last year's being the Jeter's Jungle airbrushed t-shirts (hey, we are an urban university!) We normally ask people to wear gold, unless the opponent coming in also uses gold as a primary, like Valparaiso and Loyola. Then we wear black. I just graduated, but in my last few years I could be spotted wearing Adrian Tigert's warm-up shooting shirt from his senior season in 2005-06. I loved the fact that I wore the shooting shirt he prepped in before dropping 27 points on Joakhim Noah and Al Horford in a losing effort in the second round of the 2006 NCAA's.
How are tickets allocated for students in the student section?
Students get in with a valid student ID; there is a table outside the student entrance where they can get their Panther Pack card scanned and get a game ticket. For huge games, like the Marquette game this upcoming year, we do a voucher system where students have to get vouchers for the game early, then show up at the Cell with the voucher and their student I.D. I hear the AD is considering doing this for the Butler game this season as well. When we do the voucher system, it's a guaranteed 2,500 students, one of the biggest sections in the country.
Where are you located at in the arena, and what is your favorite part about such placement?
When we played at the Klotsche Center on campus before 2003-04, we were on each baseline. At the Cell, until the 2008-09 season we were on the south baseline, next to our bench. The last two seasons (and the foreseeable future) we are on the north baseline next to the opponent's bench. I love being there because we have a reputation of being the dirtiest student section in the league along with Wright State; for the UIC-MKE game this year, assistant Tracy Dildy spent the entire game arguing with us. No wonder we won. We also get into it with fans from opposing schools, because they sit on the other side of the opponents' entrance from us, just 5-10 feet away.
What are the two to three biggest games for your student section each year?
Green Bay is the biggest game, however the last two seasons it has been during winter break so sophomores and freshmen haven't gotten to see how truly crazy and dirty it gets. Butler has been the biggest game besides that most years and the last couple has been bigger just because Butler is during school. I expect them to flip next year when Butler will be here on winter break. Other than those, Wisconsin is a big game because it only happens once every 5 years or so. Marquette, our intra-city "rival" (I say that because it's one-sided in their favor, 9-0 in D-I), is coming for the first time this year and will be a crazy game.
What struggles does your student section face every year?
Getting students to games, and then getting them all involved. We average between 350 and 500 for games, and it's very difficult to get the people in the back involved because the leaders are all up front. I try to rove around and get people into it, but because the Cell is so big, the people in the back are far behind. We'd do much better if the students were in close quarters with each other, but the risers we use have us separated by a few feet every new row. I say getting students to games is the biggest problem because we play off-campus at the downtown Cell, which causes the university to pay thousands each game to bus us back and forth. Milwaukee winters aren't exactly warm, so a lot of students that would go don't because they don't want to wait in the cold for buses either way. We want to average (yes, average) 2,000 students per home game, but recognize this will be nearly impossible until men's basketball moves back to campus (which will happen in the relatively near future since students are now paying a $25 fee to build a new home for men's basketball).
Describe your most original chant, or a memory of a particular experience in the student section.
The student section is far more original at soccer games. We have a great soccer program (you guys are a regular opponent) and we get a couple hundred students at every game. We started the joke Panther Soccer Chorus, which sings songs throughout the game. We take Sweet Caroline and switch in Milwaukee for Caroline, Build Me Up Buttercup, and others. Move, Bitch, Get out the Way when an opposing player gets knocked down in any sport; "face down, a-- up, that's the way we like to f---" (not kidding) when an opponent is fetal position face down (happens a lot in soccer). Maybe the best one is just chanting the teams name over and over: "Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee PANTHERS!" Sometimes, if a certain player is taunting us, we'll substitute "YOU SUCK" in women's soccer or "F--- YOU" in men's soccer. Like I said, we're not angels. We also don't do those if children happen to join our section, which happens more in soccer than in basketball.
Do the students at your school have any unique rituals performed before big games? Or do you have a specific experience to share if it is not something customarily done?
When I was a freshman, Cramer Street right off campus was pre-game party zone. Multiple houses had keggers and parties going on, and when the buses began taking students to games, the parties would stop until the game was over. After that year, a lot of the leaders graduated; my sophomore year, I was one of very few leaders and since I didn't live near campus, I couldn't host these parties like we used to. I'd like that to start up again; a lot of the complaints against the UWM experience from students is that it's not a real "college" atmosphere. When those keggers were rolling, I'd argue there was no better college atmosphere.
Why do you ultimately choose to be a part of the student section at your school?
I love being a part of it. I love the people around the program, not just in the department but the fans. There's something to be said for the fans of Milwaukee, and other mid-majors, that you just can't say about Wisconsin, Michigan, or Ohio State fans. We go on, fighting for our cause and cheering for our team, knowing in our hearts that we will 99% most likely never be a national champion in men's basketball in our lifetime. I think that's why Butler captured the hearts of so many people this year; it's not because they weren't good, they were amazing. It's not because they didn't have the talent, Hayward was special. It's because most Butler fans, like so many of us, never thought in a million years they would do what they did. Behind Green Bay, Butler is our biggest rival, yet I found myself cheering for the Bulldogs because there's just a certain magic around being a mid-major in the Final Four that you just can't have if you're Michigan State. Spartans will be back there, the Bulldogs may never get that close again. And for the die-hards, the people who have watched Butler, Milwaukee, Oakland for so long, that's just fine with us.
I'll live without national titles, a $100 million athletics budget, and hundreds of thousands of fans. Because at the end of the day, the Milwaukee Panthers are mine, I'm part of that legacy. I'm sure many of you feel the same way about Oakland.
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Feel free to post that on your blog if you wish; I thought it could use some outside presence.