Welcome to View From the ‘Myd, the first in a new series meant to help those who couldn’t make the game feel at home, and to point out funny stuff that those in attendance may have missed.  This was a great game to start with—it’s amazing to see so many people at the Pyramid!  The athletic department’s mission of getting more high schoolers to attend has been a smashing success so far, and it certainly hasn’t hurt the attendance numbers that the men’s basketball team is undefeated in conference…

Our favorite thing about the game tonight, besides the win, has to have been the live music.  The Big Brown Music Machine was there, providing a much-needed atmospheric boost with their huge horn section.  Truly, nothing better than the BBMM at a MBB game—no disrespect meant to the current student band, of course, but I’m always happy to see the BBMM filling the office-side stands.  If you’re a fan, be sure to check out their website, where you can learn more about the Machine, and even purchase a Greatest Hits CD. 

Adding to the noise was a group I’d never heard of, the Long Beach Royal Syncopated Regiment Drum Corps, a large (and very, very loud) squadron of drummers who took the hardwood at halftime.  They kept the crowd pumped through the break—even President Alexander was impressed, saying, “They were really great, they fired everyone up.”  Their sort-of leader, Lawrence Lewis, told me the Corps is made up of a number of alumni from the Long Beach Junior Concert Band—they’ve apparently been around a while, since they’re celebrating their 20^th anniversary next year.  “We always try to do stuff like this,” Lewis said, “I think we’re booked to come back next month.” 

One more note on the live music—I cover a lot of high school basketball, and a lot of our local schools have a very impressive music presence at their games, with marching bands, drum lines, or smaller horn sections.  It’s nice to see the presentation at the Pyramid matching those games, and living up to the level that the team is playing at.

Speaking of high schools, one of the prep teams at Saturday’s game was the Jordan Panthers, who were there both as part of the High School Night program the department is running, and to support an alum, as Larry Anderson is a former Panther.  Hearing an LB high school team there chanting “Let’s Go Larry!” and rooting for the 49ers was a cool community connection.  Even better was watching the six-foot plus Panthers take the floor after the game to wait their turns to shoot free throws.

Did we miss anything?  We’d love to hear any other funny stories or observations, whether you saw a potential recruit in the crowd, or watched a referee take off his Coke-bottle glasses before the game (we have actually seen this before).