Maybe it was the 'O'.

Barack Obama, former high school state championship basketball player, took the floor at the University of Oregon's McArthur Court Friday night and the crowd went wild.

They screamed. They whistled. They stomped their feet. And they held up their hands in the symbol that is ubiquitous in Eugene: an O.

Of course, the Illinois senator was there to talk, not play ball. And the Ducks were disappointed somewhere in Arkansas, having just been ousted from the NCAA tournament by Mississippi State.

But it didn't matter. Obama may as well have been Wilt Chamberlain for the reception he received at The Pit.

Unlike other places where politicians give speeches, this setting demanded recognition. The candidate basing his campaign on the word "change" was appearing in a facility that has been slated for replacement; a place defined by competition as much as Obama has defined himself as a uniter.

Only days after the black presidential hopeful gave a speech on race relations in America, he came to the scene of last year's racially-charged conflict during the 2007 state high school basketball championships.

That situation supposedly happened, in part, due to logistics: opposing teams in a confined space, people too close together. But according to one Obama volunteer, the elements that exacerbated that clash made the court a perfect place for a political rally. It's easy to secure, she said. Plus, there's the noise factor.

Obama's pep band was a silver iPod hooked up to a sound system. People clapped and even (briefly) did the Wave as oldies tunes filled the building named after a man who was, among other things, student director of athletics and a representative Congress.

College students, regarded as a cornerstone of Obama voters, waited for hours to get in the doors of an 82-year-old structure in order to see the youngest presidential candidate in decades. They compared it to the opportunity to see John F. Kennedy in person.

But what did they want from Obama?

They were already inspired by him. They already believed in his promises, but they wanted to be there, at the same place he was and at the same time. They wanted to see him with their own eyes. They wanted to feel the excitement of being surrounded by thousands of people who had come together in the hopes of watching history in the making.

In short, they wanted the same things fans want from a basketball game at Mac Court: They just wanted to be there.

Note: This is not in any way an endorsement of Barack Obama. The only affiliation the writer admits to is that of a UO Duck.