Thousands of students showed up to Long Beach State men’s basketball games last season covered in black and gold from head to toe. Two students, however, stood out for their dedication to the 49ers program and the student fan section known as the Monson Maniacs.
Anthony Olton and Dale Johnson, former Maniac co-presidents, could be seen at every home game in the front row heckling the opposition and energizing the LBSU fans. However, both graduated in May, leading to questions about which student leaders will emerge next season to continue pushing the Monson Maniac culture.
“Now that I am gone I think the Maniacs will flop … when you take the heart (Dale) and soul (me) out of an organization, it’s going to fail,” Olton said. “I’m just joshin. … I don’t think the Maniacs will miss a beat with us gone.”
The importance of keeping the beat going is one of the many keys in LBSU developing a nationally recognized basketball school.
Other universities have notorious fan bases — Cameron Crazies at Duke; the ‘eRUPPtion Zone’ at the University of Kentucky; or the Michigan State ‘Izzone’ — that are feared by the opposition entering these school’s arenas. These examples are similar to what The Beach is trying to develop.
“For our level of play in the grand scheme of Div. I, I am very happy with the progress our group has made in just three years, and the level of participation at our school which is considered a commuter school,” Johnson said.
In order to keep that progress going, however, student leaders must continue to rally the 49er troops. One person that Olton and Johnson both feel could do the job well is Jon Audett, the group’s 2009-10 housing spirit ambassador.
“There are many people are fully capable of leading the Maniacs, but if I had to nominate one it would be Jon “The Villain” Audett,” Olton said.
Marketing director Dedan Brozino feels like Audett would be a great pick. Yet he noted that anyone can step up.
“Jon is probably the one that we’re looking at the most,” Brozino said. “I talked to him a little bit in the spring about it and when he gets back to campus we’re going to evaluate that situation.
“Other than that president position, everything is wide open. So there is a communication director, a bus trip coordinator, dorm spirit ambassadors, campus spirit ambassadors — all these positions are wide open. There are no specific people other than Jonny that we have in mind at this moment for any of them and it’s wide open to the entire student body. All they have to do is go to Monsonmaniacs.com, check it out and shoot me an e-mail.”
Johnson added that “Audett was right there with me at every game and he is really in to the Maniacs.”
Brozino and the marketing department stepped up in their own right by hatching the Maniac idea in 2007 as a way to increase attendance at games — the same year LBSU made the hiring of head coach Dan Monson.
Johnson feels like the department chose the right moment to unleash the Maniacs. Before Monson, the fan base was known as the “Beach Patrol” and didn’t have as much following as the Maniacs have.
“Even though we were really good in the 2006-07 season, the student turnout wasn’t that great and we didn’t really have a unified voice like you see with all the other big student sections at other schools,” he said. “With the arrival of a high-profile coach like Monson, it ended up being a perfect time to revamp the student section, to give us a voice and identity and, in some ways, a uniform.”
This voice and identity can be seen at home games, largely in Section 111, and road games alike cheering on their 49ers. The LBSU men’s basketball fan club continues to expand, now boasting more than 1,200 student members.
“There’s no doubt that the hardcore fans will always support the team,” Olton said. “But even with the up and down season last year I think the support will keep growing because coach Monson is doing such a great job with recruiting, scheduling and most importantly developing the team. He definitely knows how to keep the fans interested during the offseason.”
The 49ers had one of the toughest schedules in the nation last season, facing teams like the University of Texas, Duke and Notre Dame. While the 49ers were the favorite to win the Big West Conference and make the NCAA tournament, the team came up short of the then-allotted 65-team field.
This season they will be facing the University of North Carolina along with Washington, Clemson and San Diego State, among others, to try to make the tournament.
New recruits like Edis Dervisevic, Khalid Gerard or Corey Jackson, combined with the remaining players on the roster, could make this a reality. Maybe potential leaders like Audett or other students will rise up to energize and encourage the new and old ‘Niners seeking a postseason slot.
“I think in my absence people will step up,” Johnson said. “I saw people older than me cheering, getting crazy and I followed in their footsteps.
“I think enough people are passionate about the Maniacs that the tradition will continue.”
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