Since Hoosier Hysteria on Saturday night there has been quite a buzz about the message boards. Many of the older crowd are complaining of the circus that it was. The majority of others were claiming that it was an unorganized mess. Rivals from every school are complaining that the whole thing is just one big recruiting violation. But what actually is Hoosier Hysteria? It may just be a little bit of everything but most of all it is a PR opportunity for the program. This is a chance for them to put themselves out there and get fans excited for the upcoming season.
There is a small contingency that has lodged complaints about Victor Oladipo using some of the time to show off some of his other talents. He's sang, "You Got It Bad" by Usher to start off some ceremonies (Roy Williams has danced at mid court the last several years in Chapel Hill). Of course the crowd who has no idea who Usher is was pretty upset behind the display. Perhaps more upsetting were the all-white backup dancers with no rhythm (no offense to you guys but stick to basketball). Several people, including Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal, questioned what Bob Knight would think of such a display. Here's the kicker on the question, no one cares. When Bob Knight was the coach of this team Hoosier Hysteria was merely practice. Today it is a PR event. People would have the right to be upset if this was counted as a practice, but it isn't even that. It's a show, a glorified pep rally. There is no reason to get upset about anything, especially what a former coach may or may not think of the event.
As an address to the "secondary violations", this is just other schools trying to drum up reasons to be offended at IU and its fans. If someone actually believes that chanting a recruits name is going to sway their decision then they lack the logic of a normal human being. I understand that sports have little room for things such as logic but it is still hard to take these people seriously. There is no moral high ground in this discussion. It is mostly kids being kids and anyone who takes offense to this is extremely biased if not slightly delusional.
::UPDATE AFTER THE JUMP::
The final issue Hoosier Hysteria is the complaint of massive disorganization. Now I wasn't there several sources including a close friend that indeed is the truth. If someone is going to throw something so large for 16,100 fans then it better have some organization behind it. One person told me, "it's as if it was planned by a person who's never seen a basketball game before." I have scoured twitter and asked several people that were there and I have yet to figure out who actually won the three point contest. Rumor has it, it was Austin Etherington though I can't be certain. Perhaps the disorder was the reason that so many complain of the circus atmosphere. Either way despite the disorder it was a successful event.
In the end, HH is an event for the public and not for the progression of the team. The scrimmage as little actual value to teambuilding and little becomes of it from a basketball standpoint. The real practices earlier in the day and several recruits will attest to the fact that it was a very hard practice. Instead of practice, HH is a chance to showcase the upcoming program and its fans to out-of-state recruits. In-state recruits have seen the games and the fans 1 million times and know what the atmosphere is like. It is the out-of-state recruits they get the benefit of attending this event. The best example of that is a quote from Florida shooting guard Sam Singer after his attended the Saturday, "I was very impressed with everything. Hoosier Hysteria was unbelievable time. My family and I really enjoyed ourselves.... It's [Indiana] definitely at the top of my list now." That is what Hoosier hysteria is about showcasing the atmosphere and trumping up fan support for the upcoming season in the most entertaining way possible.
::UPDATE::
Beloved player and now ABA team Midwest Flames Head Coach, AJ Guyton, chimed in on this very subject via his Facebook fan page. Take a look for yourself, but he didn't have too kind words for Crean and the program. It wasn't overly critical but he was bothered by the fan fare when the team has been so unsuccessful in the recent years. "Connecticut, Kentucky, Butler deserve to celebrate an upcoming season. Nothing positive happened for Indiana until the recruitment of Cody Zeller. Why are we so damn happy?" This seems to be a trending mindset through a lot of Hoosier Nation. I think the best rebuttal is this wasn't a practice. That actually occurred around 2pm earlier in the day. This was an event to celebrate the start of the season. No reason to get so worked up about it. But that's just this guy's opinion. What do you think?