A CHEERY COLISEUM

The men's basketball arena, Lavietes Pavilion, needs to be renovated. Without even harping on its meager seating capacity (it's too small to hold an Ec 10 lecture), there are vast improvements that need to be weighed in order for our team to have a true home court advantage.

For one, the music is a most glaring problem. The sound system consists of a woman who sits at the scorer's table and holds a microphone against an archaic, cumbersome boom box. We would not be surprised if it were stolen from an '80s break-dancing flick.

The games also need better entertainment. The cheerleaders and dance team are adequate, but the baton girl needs to revamp her routine. She is obviously a very skilled twirler, but no matter how fast she rotates the batons or how high they fly, the routine's just not very entertaining. Perhaps she could light the ends of the batons on fire. Entertainers willing to risk death have been crowd favorites since Roman times when gladiators and unfortunate Christians did battle with lions.

But we, the fans, need to overcome the musical and entertainment deficiencies and cheer on the home team. During the closing minutes of regulation of the Penn game, a "Let's go Quakers!" chant resonated throughout the Pavilion for almost a minute until a "Let's go Harvard" counterattack drowned out the screams of the heretics.

In years past, we might have been justified in not cheering wholeheartedly for our team. But now that it has raised its level of play, it's time we upped our game too.