The week-end in the midst of our trip, on Saturday afternoon, we had the opportunity to go to the University of Asheville for watching a basketball game at the Kimmel Arena. Besides, it seems to me that even if some of us, french students, have already played or are practicing this sport, it was a fisrt time for everybody to see how a University basketball game was really like. We were all amazed at how festive, professional, important and cool it was.
So we watched two games ; the girls game where the UNCA won and the boys game where the Bulldogs (from the UNCA) opposed to the CSU (the university of charleston southern) when we were fascinated and stressed until the very end of the game.
First of all, I was suprised by the Kimmel Arena which was really big and where there were cameras and broadcast screens everywhere, this was a really professional equipment.
Secondly, it was really cool to see what we thought were clishes, were in fact real. In famous american movies and series, we usually see cheerleaders, the brass band and the mascot but here we saw how important they are during the game. 
The brass band was really talented, they played some famous songs that we could sing along with them, so we can say that they made the atmosphere fun and festive. And like the cheerleaders, they had jingles when the teams scored a basket, shot, stole, dribbled or threw the ball in…
The cheerleaders made the show real and when they were supporting their team, they were also boosting the support of the public, with clapping, pom pom, ect… Besides between the different half time they danced, or made flyers and pyramid so they were very impressive.
The mascot of UNCA : Rocky the Bulldog, made us laugh during all the time of the game ! He came in the bleachers to pull a prank on us, take pictures and during a half time he dragged us on the court with many others people to dance the mascot dance !
Me and my friends had a really great time at this game, and when we left we were lucky enough to take a pictures with some of our favourite players!
To conclude, this afternoon was full of emotions, which made me realize too, how the important sports can be for American schools and universities, because it was incredible for us to picture the Kimmel Arena and all its atmosphere in a French school. Also I was impressed by the universities players who are already little stars of basketball because they have their own championship. Finally, we enjoyed this moment and so much that when we were flying back home, we imagined organizing basketball game and creating cheerleaders team for our school !
By Salomé Guibot
