Ram Pride

Adam Wagner

11/3/10

Ram Pride

Let’s face it; students don’t come to CSU expecting athletic excellence. The Florida Gators these Rams are not.

Ram fans have had little to cheer about recently. But that doesn’t stop them from filling up the cozy confines of Hughes Stadium, or the newly improved Moby Arena.

There is something to say for fan loyalty at CSU.

Nobody personifies that loveable loyalty better than 13-year-old Justin Stank. “He lives and breathes CSU,” said his mother Zoe Stank, “If he ends up going to another college I’ll be really surprised. He has been going to the games since he was 6-months-old.”

“I love that kid,” said Vaughn Hood, a CSU senior and self-professed obsessed CSU fan. “We need more fans like him.”The eighth grade student at Heath Middle School in Greeley, can be seen wearing his mascot costume in the front row of the CSU student section, right behind the Rams’ sideline at football games. He is also the ball boy for the CSU basketball and volleyball teams.

“You are the coolest little ram fan ever,” senior Sarah Murrow said to Justin at a recent football game.

Opposing fans don’t seem to think so.

Four years ago, Justin’s passion for the Rams put him in danger when the Rams football team played the University of Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

As he was walking down to his seat, a CU fan, who, according to Justin was “way beyond drunk” grabbed Justin, just 10-years-old, by the throat.

“He started screaming ‘f- CSU, f-you, you mother f-er,’” Justin said. Justin was only in elementary school at the time and was helpless to fight back.

Justin’s mom quickly saw what was going on and reacted. “Big problem was, mom used to be a cop,” she said. “He didn’t know what hit him.”

“I had this kid on his knees, grabbing him by the throat, screaming, ‘you never touch a child. God help you if you touch mine.’”

Security realized what was going on and escorted the dazed CU fan out of the stadium. Three CSU students, who had seen what happened, followed him out. “I heard he ended up in the hospital,” Justin’s mom said unsympathetically.

It wouldn’t be the last time Justin was assaulted representing the Rams.

Last year Justin, who is in the Junior Olympic Archery Development Program, was having an archery competition in Las Vegas when the Rams women’s basketball team was playing UNLV.

Justin missed his archery tournament to go to the basketball game. It was a choice between the rams or archery. “Come on it’s CSU,” he said as if it were no choice at all.

When Justin went to one of the bathrooms at UNLV’s basketball arena, a UNLV fan jumped him.

“I just remember walking out of the bathroom stall and someone grabbing me and throwing me to the ground,” he said. “Nobody helped me, he just walked out.”

One place Justin’s mom doesn’t have to worry about him being harassed is CSU. “He’s got so many people protecting him over there,” his mom said. “I’m usually in the middle of it with him. I’m standing in the middle of all these kids screaming louder than any of them.”

No one asked Justin to be the Rams unofficial mascot. He does it simpy because, “It’s just fun,” he said. “A lot of my friends from other sports are in the student section.”

But Justin’s goal isn’t to watch the games from the bleachers; he wants to be on the football field, playing for his beloved Rams. “It would be cool, definitely,” he said.

Justin plays on the defensive line for his middle school’s team, the Heath Panthers. They just finished their season a perfect 6-0 with zero points scored on the defense, a school record.

“They can technically start recruiting him next year,” said his mom. “The regulars and the booster club have watched that boy grow up. If he does go to CSU, it’s going to be very loud his first day on the field.”

In addition to CSU and archery, Justin enjoys school, Boy Scouts, and hanging out with his friends who think, “It’s weird that I’m a ball boy for the volleyball team, but think it’s cool I know the basketball players,” he said.

It is doubtful that Justin could form these friendships with the student-athletes at a large university like University of Florida or even the University of Colorado for that matter. That is what makes CSU unique. It’s small enough fans can develop relationships with the players with relative ease.

Justin is a well-rounded young man who has his priorities in order, something few others his age can say. “I feel bad when I have to miss a game, but Scouts and school come first.”

“He is also a rodeo clown,” said his mom. In 2007, Justin took part in the Annual Kids Rodeo during the Greeley Stampede. He helped kids that had fallen off their sheep.

But Justin’s first love has always been the Rams. If getting beat up by opposing fans is the price he has to pay, he is willing to pay it he said.

Maybe Justin’s only qualm with CSU is the new costume for the mascot. “I really don’t like him. The old one fit in better.”