Published: March 2005
The Super Fan phenomenon began in 1997, when roommates Chris Millette ’99 and Jeff Bridge ’99 came up with a way to identify student fans at athletic events: gold “Super Fan” T-shirts. The Boston College Bookstore sells the shirts and—new for this year—a maroon Super Fan tee for alumni.
On Saturday, February 19, the sixth-ranked Boston College men’s basketball team took on the ninth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,606 at Conte Forum and a national crowd watching the game on ESPN. (BC would prevail 65-60.) The rivalry had intensified since Boston College announced last year that it would leave the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the Syracuse football team defeated BC 43-17 in November, to ruin the University’s chances of winning an invitation to a major bowl game. According to the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan ’68, who’s been attending to BC athletics since he was a Heights reporter, the February 19 game was “the most anticipated regular-season BC home game in 38 years.” (Unfortunately, it also turned out to be the season’s ultimate victory.) And the Super Fans showed it, from tip off to buzzer. But even in the sea of yellow, some stood out.
