UW fans cold, but happy, campers for Zags

By the time the gates open before tonight's 7:30 showdown between Washington and Gonzaga, Austin Thomas will have spent the better part of 43 hours in the cold outside of Edmundson Pavilion.

And Thomas, a junior political science major, is not the only one. With tipoff still 24 hours away, there were 17 tents extending north of the arena from the student entrance.

So this is what happens when Washington becomes a basketball school.

One wild run through the Pac-10 during the winter of 2003-04, and it's goodbye empty seats and hello camping.

The students, part of the purple-clad fan section known as the Dawg Pack, all have tickets for the sold-out game, but hey, you got to do what it takes to get the good seats.

"I used to show up when the game started and now it's come to this," said Thomas, one of a handful of students to brave two nights of temperatures in the mid-30s. "It's a blast."

Making things slightly more bearable are extension cords that come out from under the doors of Edmundson Pavilion. At least the freezing students can warm themselves in front of the glow of Madden 2004 on XBox.

There were about 50 students present by Saturday night, and compared to other big games, that was a small crowd.

You should have seen the crowd for the Arizona game last year, they say. There were hundreds out here, wrapped around the Graves Building. Same thing for top-ranked Stanford (a Huskies win) two years ago, they continue.

What makes last night's crowd special, however, is the willingness to brave the recent cold, and the patience to do it before a 7:30 game.

Spokane native Steve Greer is more than willing to bear the cold for a chance to root against a former AAU teammate, Sean Mallon, now a forward for the Bulldogs.

Greer is here with a group of about 10, including his freshman sister Katie, who promised her mom she wouldn't camp in order to get over a cold. Sorry mom.

Coach Lorenzo Romar and the team stopped by around noon Saturday to show their appreciation for the fans.

"We used to show up 10 minutes late and sit wherever we wanted," said Tyler Slone, a senior from Bellevue. "Now we're out here freezing. It's crazy." Crazy indeed.

John Boyle: 206-464-2364 or jboyle@seattletimes.com