Last night I went to the Nashville Sounds game with Chris Meriwether. For those of you who don't know, Chris was a three-year walk-on for us and a graduate assistant last season. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He will always take the time out to say hello or help you out and expects nothing in return. For those of you who never had the chance to meet Chris, be sure to introduce yourself to him at a game next season as he still lives in Nashville and attends many of our games.
Anyway, while at the game Chris told me that one of his favorite parts of college was the last few weeks of his senior year. Not only did he get to spend time with the friends he had made to that point, but he also said he got to meet a lot of new people who became good friends of his in the last stretch of his college career. I thought about that a lot last night, and Chris is right.
To this point I have made some unbelievable friends and had some unbelievable experiences with the men's basketball program, but there are still so many people associated with the program and this school that I haven't had the chance to meet, and would love the opportunity to do so. As fans, students, or just observers of the program, you guys are help make games in Memorial and working for the program so enjoyable. Being a fan is not an easy experience, you go through the ups and down of a season, numerous times over the course of your life, but true fans always stick with their team no matter what.
Growing up, I was a die-hard New Jersey Nets fan, I attended tons of games, collected autographs, and watched them on television religiously. Some of the greatest moments I had as a fan were getting to meet my idols, go to a Q&A with the general manager, and get an inside look at the locker room. When you pour so much time into rooting for a team or a player, it truly is an enormous emotional investment, and fans have the same passion for the team that the players and coaches have. Sometimes even more so.
Many of the Vandy fans have interacted with me on Twitter and some have introduced themselves at games, but I don't actually know many of you.
So I want to take this opportunity to invite any fan to contact me with any questions they may have about the program, certain players, what it's like on the inside. This blog attempts to give you an inside look at what goes on, but I certainly can't cover and won't cover everything you are interested in, so feel free to contact me asking about aspects of the program I haven't covered. If you want to meet for lunch or are in town and want a tour of Memorial I'd be happy to meet with you or show you around. You all pour your energies into supporting us season after season so this is a chance for me to give back something in my last month on campus to you guys.
I hope you will contact me in some way, because while I can provide insights for you guys, you can do the same for me. I don't know much about the program before I got here and many of you are going on 20 to 30 years of fandom and I'm sure have tales of the past that I would find interesting, much like UK superfan Bob Wiggins does for those in the Kentucky program.
Here is my contact info, so please feel free to reach out, I hope to hear from some of you:
Twitter: @dgm591
Email: Daniel.g.marks@vanderbilt.edu
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