The frigid February temperatures couldn’t keep faithful Golden Grizzly fans away as the third annual Winterfest tailgate was a huge success. Everything from Buffalo Wild Wings and Dominos Pizza to beer pong and a car smash, the tailgate had everything one could imagine. To help with the bitter cold, there was a big heated tent and for the students/alumni of age it was a BYOB tailgate.

The event was hosted by Athletics and the Student Congress in a collaboration that has been very successful in years past. Arth Patel has been a part of the tailgate committee for the Student Congress for a long time and he had this to say on the planning behind Winterfest.

“It started a good couple months ago, we had this plan, we knew when it was coming and it’s been a lot of work but it’s nice to see everyone come together for the Golden Grizzlies,” Patel said.

Most events on campus are DJ’ed by the on campus radio station WXOU, and this one was no different. The DJ’s from WXOU braved the cold and came through like they always do. General manager of the radio station Drew Marczewski was happy to be there and appreciates the support the radio station gets.

“We’re just another student organization, and we just like to give back to other student organizations by doing events like this,” Marczewski said.

Grizz Gang was in attendance and they could not believe how many fans came out in the cold to support.

“I’m just happy all these people came out, and I’m thankful to athletics and OUSC for setting this all up, I think it really improves the students and brings a bigger turnout for the student section,” said Grizz Gang Secretary John Hassenzahl.

With all the excitement and hype around the game before it even started, the thoughts in many Golden Grizzly fans was that their team would run away with a win over UIC. That was not the case as Oakland never got the ball rolling and fell to UIC 79-73. It was a devastating loss for the Black and Gold and as the losses pile up, their chances of winning the outright Horizon League Championship look very grim.

Martez Walker led Oakland in scoring with 21 points and Kendrick Nunn was right behind him with 20. Jalen Hayes also tacked on a solid 15 points but other than that, there was nothing going for the Golden Grizzlies.

With another week there’s another big game looming and Monday starts Detroit Mercy hate week for Golden Grizzly fans. On Friday, Feb 9 Detroit Mercy comes to town and it will bring on another tailgate, this one hosted by Grizz Gang. Win or lose, you cannot deny that it is an exciting time for those fans of the Black and Gold.