The Samford Crimson

Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Emily Leithauser With friends watching, sophomore Ellen Davis puts the final touches on sophomore Jeremy Hunt's face-paint before the season-opening football game against West Alabama this year.

Have you ever been to a Samford football game, watched an energetic first half, then watch nearly half of the members of the student section leave after half-time?

Jeremy Hunt, sophomore undeclared major, Alex Huguenard, sophomore religion major and Trace Dorner, sophomore undeclared major are aiming to bring an end to Seibert Stadium's half-way cheering methods.

The three sophomore boys get a group of guys together for every home football game and paint their chests out of support for the Bulldogs.

"The whole idea behind what we do is to bring more spirit to Samford," Dorner said.

Hunt is the unofficial leader of the group, making a list of guys to call and buying the paint and brushes every week. The goal is to have a minimum of eight people so they can spell out BULLDOGS. The core group consists of Hunt, Huguenard, Dorner, sophomore pre-pharmacy major Ian Hudson and sophomore sports medicine major Allen Martin.

The first time they ever painted up was at the Georgia Tech game last year, where they had a group of about six boys and spelled out GO DOGS.

Since that time they have attended most home games and Georgia Tech again this year. The boys also painted up for some basketball games, but the main emphasis is still football.

They meet from an hour to an hour and a half before the game, and Ellen Davis, sophomore history major, and Emily Leithauser, sophomore journalism and mass communication major, come and paint the letters and designs for them.

The cheerleaders give them their megaphones, Grant Lyons, director of marketing for Samford athletics, lets them stand on the wall in front of the crowd. Now people are finally starting to stand up.
While attendance at games has improved this year and the guys have been approached by a lot of people about wishing to paint up as well, they still feel we have a long way to go.

"We need people to get involved in the game," Hunt said.
"And for people to stay the whole game," Huguenard said. The boys have noticed that when people leave early, the team's spirit goes down.

All three of the boys grew up in Marietta, Ga., and went to very spirited high schools.

According to Hunt, the senior boys painted their chests for each game at his high school.

Hunt, Huguenard and Dorner all knew how much fun it was throughout their high school careers and decided they wanted to bring the fun to Samford.

They now hope that their boost of school spirit pans out during their college years.

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