![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/dunkcity-300x187.png\" "\\"dunkcity\\"")
Wait a minute, Fort Myers, FL…Isn\u2019t that the same place as\u00a0Dunk City, USA<\/strong>?<\/p>\nAnd so it is, I’m told by the publisher. So I take the gig. Chicago to Florida in mid-March…who wouldn’t!<\/p>\n
So my assignment was to cover the\u00a0stands<\/strong>. Not the players, not the coaches, not the locker rooms, not even the cheerleaders, don’t take photos, just find the “big” story that no other reporter will find I’m told. Human interest he tells me is what sells free\u00a0papers. A story that’s never been told before… a one of a kind story!<\/p>\n Well,\u00a0it took three games\u00a0to discover that kind of story. As it turns out,\u00a0our “story” is\u00a0about no stranger to anyone who has ever attended a basketball game at Florida Gulf Coast University. And I mean from day one. I must admit that during the first game I was taken aback\u00a0by some\u00a0“voice” in the stands that seemed to have the cheerleaders trained\u00a0along with the\u00a0over 4600 rabid fans to follow his lead.\u00a0\u00a0 Time after time he would cry out “Go Eagles” and the cheerleaders would respond back “Go Eagles”. He would cry out again “Go Eagles” and\u00a0then over 4600 fans shouted back “Go Eagles”. It was like he was in charge! All game long he led thousands of people imploring the players to exceed! And so they did. Win #1, but that’s another story.<\/p>\n The second game was much like the first. Rabid fans, bursting the\u00a0seams of the stadium and\u00a0raising the roof as\u00a0The Voice<\/strong>\u00a0cried out…. “Go Eagles”, and every one responded back “Go Eagles”.\u00a0Make no mistake; Dunk City has a Superintendent of Cheer. His name is Bill Stauffer. A distinguished gray-haired gentleman\u00a0who I am guessing collects Social Security and is a proud veteran of our Armed Forces as I was told he often leads Section F\u00a0in the singing of our\u00a0National Anthem.\u00a0Bill\u00a0lives in nearby Bonita\u00a0Springs, is a University of Maryland alumni,\u00a0and tells me he has been training the cheerleaders and fans from the\u00a0very first game ever played at Alico Arena. Oh by the way, FGCU won game 2, but that’s still another story.<\/p>\n I found out more about Bill “The Voice” Stauffer during game 3.\u00a0Which by the way did not go so well.\u00a0In 2011 the FGCU cheerleaders presented Bill\u00a0with his own personalized, signed\u00a0cheerleading megaphone.\u00a0He loaned\u00a0that megaphone to University President Bradshaw who led the students’ section when the women played St. Bonaventure in Tallahassee, the first NCAA Basketball tournament game in school history.\u00a0He told me about\u00a0singing the Star – Spangled Banner at the final women’s home game in 2013. I asked what the most exciting time he\u00a0has had as a fan. And quickly he told me of following the men on their historic journey last year\u00a0to Philadelphia\u00a0as a 15\u00a0seed. And witnessing the Georgetown and\u00a0San Diego State upsets\u00a0to become the first 15 seed team in NCAA history to reach the sweet 16. Then Bill\u00a0and his megaphone\u00a0traveled to Arlington, TX following the men’s quest\u00a0against the Florida Gators. That game, much like\u00a0Sunday’s\u00a0Championship game\u00a0didn’t turn out so well for the highflying Eagles.<\/p>\n Bill would make a great\u00a0Chicago Cub fan. He’s excited about the prospects for the men’s team next year.\u00a0Only losing a single senior to graduation and picking up a boatload of eligible players which would have been a the great help during\u00a0Sunday’s final, Bill and\u00a0the\u00a0fans are\u00a0excited about next year. So When you hear “The Voice” next\u00a0time, check out section F,\u00a0center court,\u00a0and you’ll be able to put a face\u00a0to the voice.<\/p>\n “GO EAGLES”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Dick Allen Some writers get all the great stories. They get to interview great stars,\u00a0high fashion models, history makers, and even those who influence nations. Me, I get a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":29813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}