Members of the 942 Crew attempt to disrupt a UCLA free throw attempt behind the "Curtain of Distraction" on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, at Wells Fargo Arena. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)Editor's note: Alex Arroyo is a nursing senior and a founding member of the 942 Crew.
The Curtain of Distraction has certainly been living up to its name lately. As a matter of fact, it has always done so — just not on a national or even international scale.
The curtain was a unique idea of the 942 Crew, an ASU men’s basketball support group, and made its debut during the 2013-14-basketball season. It has been consistently distracting opposing team free-throw shooters ever since.
During the pre-curtain era, the student section coordinated moves such as jumping, swaying and noise-making, but despite our best efforts, they all failed to impact the fact that opponents were still making a higher percentage of free throw shots during the second half than the first half.
The second half is when our student section is undoubtedly within the shooter’s field of vision and has the best chance to cause them to miss those pivotal free points, which is sometimes the difference between a win or a loss. Opponents were making 75.3 percent of their free throws during the second half of home games during the 2012-13 season.
Participants of the Curtain of Distraction are members of the 942 Crew and various other students attending ASU. The people performing the skits must comply with NCAA rules. No curtain acts include artificial noisemakers or involve any type of physical contact with shooters on the line. It is a visual and mental distraction. What it comes down to is how well the shooter is trained.
With 16 home games under its belt this season, and only two remaining, the curtain’s statistics are constantly improving. The number of free throws made during the second half of home games this season is 62 percent, down 12.6 percent compared with the 2012-13 season. While the curtain is not the sole reason each and every one of those shots was missed, it likely contributed to that dramatic statistical decrease.
The Curtain of Distraction is not only good for preventing points; it has become an entertainment factor for spectators as well. Lately, it has caught the attention of national and international media including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and ESPN, among other articles published on foreign sports websites.
Men’s basketball games have caught the attention of ASU’s very own student population as well. There has been a significant increase in student attendance. During the 2011-12 season, the season prior to the formation of the 942 Crew, a total of 7,736 students attended the 17 games played at Wells Fargo Arena.
With two games still left to play, the total student attendance for the 2014-15 season is 15,095. The 942 Crew has broken the student attendance record twice, including bringing 3,000 students to Jan. 15's home Pac-12 play opener against Utah.
As a nursing senior, a founding member of the 942 Crew and an overall fan of ASU athletics, I have seen firsthand the positive change the 942 Crew and the Curtain of Distraction have provided to men’s basketball here at ASU. While we have come a very long way, we still have far to go and are embracing the challenge of thinking of new curtain skits for future seasons and improving student attendance.
People interested in joining can message us on Twitter or Facebook or stop by a meeting at Sun Devil Sports Performance at 4 p.m. Fridays. The last home game of the season is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Cal; come out and join us in supporting your senior Sun Devils!
Reach the guest columnist at Alexandria.Arroyo@asu.edu
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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