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The Gaucho Locos held a pizza party Saturday night to celebrate the most successful year in its three-year history, which saw the group go to both the Big West Tournament and the NCAA basketball tournament.
“Each victory, particularly the ones in the Big West finals, were particularly impressive for the Gaucho Locos,” said Gaucho Loco founder Brian Hampton. “We did one of the best jobs of cheering I’ve ever seen, and it was good enough to get us to the NCAAs.”
Although the men’s and women’s basketball teams both played games in the Big West Tournament in Anaheim, Mr. Hampton said basketball wasn’t the point.
“Frankly,” he said, “I’m sick of all the hype about basketball. It’s clouding our achievements in cheering and taking credit away from the organization that really determines success in the tournament.”
He pointed particularly to hype surrounding junior forward Mark Hull’s amazing three-point shooting against Arizona and junior point guard Jess Hansen’s game-winning jumper with 1.1 seconds left against Louisiana Tech.
“All I heard at the end was Hull this and Hansen that,” Mr. Hampton said. “The NCAA tournament wasn’t about that. This was all about the Gaucho Locos.”