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Question 1: Tell me about yourselves. Why did each of you want to be a mic man?

Sam: I’m Sam, and I’m a senior from Toledo, Ohio. It was kind of on a whim—I just got an email saying someone recommended me for Mic Man. I go to every game anyways, so bringing the energy into the stadium was something I’d been wanting to do for a while. I thought, “Senior year, this is something that could work. Why not try it?”

Kencell: I’m Kencell, and I wanted to be Mic Man ’cause I’m super passionate about supporting students on campus in all their endeavors. I go to as many sporting events as possible, as well as musical performances, a capella shows, speaker series etc.. But I have to say that as a huge sports fan, cheering at sports games is my favorite campus activity. I cheer hard anyway, so I wanted to put a title on it. 

Joe: Joe Baldwin, I’m a freshman from Kansas City. I applied to Mic Man on a whim and heard about it at the org fair for freshmen. I instantly knew it was something I had to do because I did that kinda stuff at my high school. So I tried to bring that kind of school spirit into the Mic Man role.

Question 2: Thoughts on the football team overall? What are you expecting for this week?

Sam: This is one of the best teams we’ve had in my college career. It’s pretty interesting for me, being a senior. We’re a pretty experienced team, and it’s a lot of my friends that are doing well out there. Khari Blasingame is a really good friend of mine. Oren Burks is also a really good friend of mine. I think that’s what makes us unique in the SEC. It’s kind of like a high school environment. You’re going out there and watching your friends compete, and you know what they’re going through every single week. What gets me even more dedicated is knowing these people are working so hard to represent us.

I was a little worried about this tough schedule. We have a really tough schedule ahead. But, I mean, we’ve taken K-State down. Why not Georgia? We’ve been so close so many years—again, three years of Vanderbilt football—I’ve seen all the heartbreak you can possibly have. But things are turning. I’m feeling pretty good about it. I think the Georgia game will tell us a lot about this season, if we can compete in the SEC East. I think we could be doing this Mic Man thing in Atlanta. That would be nice.

Kencell: The team honestly looks straight up bomb. The defense is killer so far—shoutout Nifae Lealao holding it down at D-tackle from Sacramento, CA—WOO! But actually the offense has been so good thus far too, and the team showed championship-level effort to beat K-State.

Joe: What I’ve seen from the team these first three games, we look pretty good. I think we look really good. Being from Kansas City, I have a lot of friends that go to K-State, so I knew what kind of university they were. It was great for us to win because our team looked really good against a good football team, and a lot of my friends were talking trash the whole week. I got to throw [it] back at them. So that was nice. 

Question 3: How about the crowd? What’re your thoughts on attendance? What role do you see yourselves playing in that when it comes to students?

Sam: I’ve gotten a lot of good reviews on Saturday. A lot of people liked it. In games where it wasn’t as close or we were winning or losing by a lot, you’d see that mass exodus at halftime. Going to class on Monday and having people say, “Hey, I had a lot of fun”—that, I think, is our role. If people have ideas, let us know. [We want] as much give and take as humanly possible.

Kencell: I love the attendance and am glad people are staying throughout the games. I think we can add structure to the student section and increase the culture around Vanderbilt sports overall. I want to encourage everyone to stay hyped.

Joe: K-State was definitely very hype. I think it built what Mic Man is gonna be now. People are interested and wanna come see what it is. Being a freshman and having friends in the stands that I can call out to builds that extra confidence—at least for me—that this is gonna be a thing that goes on if our freshmen really get into it. There was a lot of energy [against K-State]. It was a close and exciting game, which helped. I feel like it’s gonna build a lot of student excitement for them to see [this]. Four or five times there was someone other than us that started chants. One parent got hype, and I was like, “Alright, this guy’s into it.”

It’s up to [the Mic Men] to boost the team, make them feel like their people are behind them. We’re also entertainment for the student section—that’s what I love to do. We like feedback because people are gonna come back the next game and say, “Hey, they did that!” and get even more excited.

Question 4: How about challenges—what’s hardest about standing down front shouting into a microphone for three hours?

Sam: Definitely the physical component of it. I’m not gonna have a voice Sunday/Monday for the rest of the semester. We sit down and we’re like, “Wow, we’ve been standing for an hour and a half. My legs are noodles.” So that’s great conditioning.

It’s also timing that makes it tricky sometimes. You definitely don’t wanna over-chant, ’cause then it’s just annoying. But sometimes if it’s a “down” mood or we just don’t have the momentum, we’re like, “What can we do to pick it up a little bit?” Then things like “Who Ya With” and “Black and Gold”—you know, stadium-wide stuff—you have to pick a good time to do that. So you’ve gotta sense it. But the more games we do, the better we’ll be.

Kencell: I think always being “on” is difficult. Like I am naturally very excited, but when I was a normal student and I wanted to disengage from the game for a few minutes, no one noticed. Now I have to be consistently hyped.

Joe: Well your voice goes out. That was a rough fourth quarter [against K-State], but you just push through it. Also, it’s hard. There were a lot of bad referee calls—you wanna say what’s on your mind. [laughs] But you can’t. We have rules. I had people come up to me and say, “Hey Mic Man, we should chant this,” and I’m like, “Sorry, we can’t say that.” 

It’s difficult when there’s a bad play or a turnover. You can just feel the energy—everyone’s shoulders slump. And we have to be upbeat about it. I know the team can sense it. Ya know if something goes wrong and the crowd gives up on you, then it’s disheartening. Sometimes keeping the energy up is easy, sometimes it’s difficult. It is what it is.

Question 5: Any general requests or messages for students? How can we best support you guys?

Sam: Just be there. Be loud. We’re all involved in four or five different things. We’re all taking a lot of classes, with juggling ten thousand different things all the time. It’s the same thing for all of our student athletes. They’re working so hard all the time, you just don’t see it. Our football team’s schedule is nuts. And I’ve heard it got disheartening the past couple seasons to see people not show up for [games]. So that’s my thing—go out and support these people. They’re busting their tails all the time.

As far as the fun of it, that’s us. [laugh] Don’t worry about it, that’s what we’ll do. Just vibe with it. If you’re not a sports person, we’ll handle making it fun. And at the very least, come and laugh at us. [laughs]

Kencell: Just be loud and stay the entire game. Listen for cheers/start your own (appropriate) ones and we will support you.

Joe: Just show up. I don’t think this will be a problem [this week], but stay after halftime. Being from Kansas City, we had the record for the loudest stadium. They showed in the math that a small portion of more people creates a much bigger increase in noise. So if people are like, “I don’t feel like going”—come. Because if they go, it’s gonna get much more hype for everybody. We want to hear the band, dancers, cheerleaders—we like to show them love too.

If nothing else, you’re working hard and they’re working hard. You don’t have to be a sports person, but be a Vanderbilt person. Show up and show respect.