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I recently went to watch the Melbourne Uni Black Angels Big V basketball game.&nbsp; I was asked to do a guest post about it for the Melbourne Uni website, as it is currently off season for the NBL.&nbsp; With a young family, my wife and I don&rsquo;t get out much so, I thought it could be as good a chance as any to actually be outside of the house past six o&rsquo;clock on a Saturday night.&nbsp; The fact that it was toga night made it even better.&nbsp;
I was lucky enough to attend Michigan State University as a <a href="http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ballinger_adam00.html">student/athlete</a>.&nbsp; Correction, I was lucky enough to attend Michigan State as an ATHLETE&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;.. student.&nbsp; It is a big time program that takes its basketball very seriously.&nbsp;&nbsp; The school has over 40,000 students and a basketball arena that seats 15,000.&nbsp; In my five years, every single game was sold out, even the practice ones.&nbsp; The complete lower bowl was filled with students who call themselves the Izzone, after our legend in the making head coach, Tom Izzo. &nbsp;They all wear their appointed white t-shirt, never sit down, and actually have practices of what chant to do and when.&nbsp; For this game I was not expecting quite the same atmosphere, but any sense of nostalgia would be well worth the trip.
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On the way to the game there were a few signs I was no longer in college.&nbsp; Instead of driving around packed into a &rsquo;93 Ford Taurus and listening to a Limp Bizkit mix tape, I am now packed into our Kia Rondo with no radio on. There is no point in trying to listen to it over the nagging of 3 restless kids.&nbsp; Everyone settles down pretty quickly except for our eight month old son. He is wondering why he&rsquo;s not being given his milk and being put to bed.&nbsp; After about ten minutes of listening to him cry, my wife pounces out of her seat, army rolls into the back, does her best spider-man climbing a wall impression and feeds him.&nbsp; He never even had to move his head.&nbsp; The whole thing was done effortlessly in high heels in a way only a mother could pull off.&nbsp; If you are wondering, no, this never happened in college.
When we finally got there and were walking in it looked like a typical toga party.&nbsp; The thought of them is great but the reality of them, is usually much different&hellip;.
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When thinking of a theme for a party, toga&rsquo;s seem to be an easy solution.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s a costume and concept everyone is familiar with and all you need is a white bed sheet.&nbsp; That being said, have you ever seen a 20 year olds bed sheet?....
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There is no way a college kid is going to spend some of their beer money on a new bed sheet for a party.&nbsp; What they will do is spend their beer money on beer, rip the bed sheet directly of their bed, and throw it around their waist. &nbsp;Bam, instant toga!&nbsp; This is exactly the reason that instead of a party full of men and women in glistening white costumes, you get ten or so inebriated guys in ill fitting, dirty bed sheets and Chuck Taylors. &nbsp;Who are all standing around a keg quoting Animal House.&nbsp; &nbsp;
&nbsp;The toga aspect of this game, was no different.&nbsp; Aside from four guys who did look to be enjoying themselves, the rest of the crowd were just there to see a basketball game, a game that turned out to be very well played.&nbsp; Melbourne Uni hosted &nbsp;the Mildura Heat in a game that could have gone either way until the final buzzer.&nbsp; If it wasn&rsquo;t for the impressive performances of Mildura&rsquo;s imports, the Black Angels would have probably won.&nbsp;
I have to admit though my favorite player was on Mildura.&nbsp; He was a husky, back up point guard and looked to be the oldest guy out there.&nbsp; He looked like he came straight from work and after the game was headed straight to the pub.&nbsp; I was told he is a legend of Mildura basketball and had played something like 450 games and counting. &nbsp;He has played all those games not because it has made him rich.&nbsp; Not because it gets him any media coverage.&nbsp; I doubt he even has any twitter followers. His presence on the court and reasons for playing pretty much summed it up for all the players.&nbsp; They are out there for the chance to be a part of a team and for the love of the game.
If you get a chance to get out and see the Uni team or any other Big V games this season, I highly recommend it.&nbsp; You might as well bring your toga too, because you never know when a party is going to break out.

Editors Note: The 450 game player was Shannon Erskine. Read an interview with him&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bigv.com.au/index.php?id=755&amp;tx_ttnews%5Byear%5D=2013&amp;tx_ttnews%5Bmonth%5D=04&amp;tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=3345&amp;cHash=40cdd2078747a94865000c0a13d9d785">here</a>
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