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Da Dark Side of Da Mill
Da Dark Side of Da Mill was the 2007-2008 basketball student section for the Noblesville Millers of Noblesville, Indiana. The brainchild of NHS "Superfans" Mike Pruden, Ben Purcell, and John Walaszek, Da Dark Side of Da Mill began as a few seniors interested in making a solid fan base for the upcoming basketball season. After creating several video clips to be played on daily announcements, the Superfans introduced Da Dark Side of Da Mill to the student body, where it spread like wildfire and became a living, breathing accomplishment. Several creative cheers later, Da Dark Side of Da Mill was nominated and crowned the best student section in all of Indiana by Channel 13 WTHR, which awarded NHS the 2008 Spirit Award.

The SuperFans The Video Announcements The Cheers The Contributors The Images The References

The Superfans As juniors in high school, Mike Pruden, Ben Purcell, and John Walaszek formed a group of Miller fanatics known as "The Superfans." Based on the popular SNL skit, the NHS Superfans developed in hopes of creating better school spirit. Their junior year, Pruden, Purcell, and Walaszek spent most of their time creating skits for video announcements that ran alongside the senior student fan base, Mill Law. As the graduating seniors were gradually losing momentum towards the end of the 2007 basketball season, the Superfans stepped up to the plate and began pumping the incoming seniors for the next school year.

When the 2007-2008 school year began, Pruden, Purcell, and Walaszek helped create a strong football student section under collaboration with fellow senior Kristen Jenkins. Despite a disappointing footbal season, the Superfans had laid a strong foundation on which to build Da Dark Side of Da Mill.

After winning the Spirit Award for basketball, the Superfans attempted to spread the wealth to the NHS baseball team, which came into the 2008 season ranked No. 1 in the state. However, the student body failed to respond to a baseball student section, and the legendary Dark Side of Da Mill fell by the wayside as the school year closed.

The Video Announcements While developing the plans for their student section, Pruden, Purcell, and Walaszek filmed several video skits to be played on the daily announcements. All of these can be seen under Walaszek's YouTube account,

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These videos pumped students up, informed them of new cheers, and created an overall network for students to respond to changes within the student section.

The Cheers Da Dark Side of Da Mill's claim to fame was the Roller Coaster, which began as just a few students at the first game and grew into a mob of over 500 black-clad individuals by the time NHS played its biggest rivals. Even parents joined in on the ride. Eventually the student section had to develop new cheers, specifically ones for individual players. There was "Downtown Leland Brown" for sophomore forward Leland Brown; "I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more" for senior guard Miles Mattox; and "WHO? Mike JONES!" for senior guard Mikey Jones. There were also several variations of freethrow cheers, halftime chants, and random calls. For example, whenever a student felt like cheering, they were encouraged to let out a "HOOOOOOOOOOO!" During opponent freethrow attempts, a Superfan would start the cheer, "Hot Juicy Burgers!" based on the popular Wendy's commercial, or simply scream. All cheers can be found on Walaszek's YouTube page, as linked above.

The Contributors Although all seniors were encouraged to contribute any ideas to a Superfan, there were several key students who helped push Da Dark Side of Da Mill to such heights. Senior Lynn Coleman was the noted photographer of all student section events. Senior Drew Hunter led the crowd in the epic Guitar Chant against Brownsburg High School. Seniors Giovanni Gonzalez, Jordan Snyder, Joey Casey, Drew Hood, Dan Borowski, Nick McDaniel, Amber Mathew, Lindsay Walker, Kevin Velovitch, Harrison Ruhl, and David Turk served as the better part of the front row every game. Senior Kristen Jenkins provided the epic appearance of Darth Vader & the Storm Troopers at the Brownsburg High School game where WTHR came to film. All seniors contributed in spirit.

The Images There are simply too many individuals with pictures from Da Dark Side of Da Mill. The following link will connect you with the Facebook group, Witness the Power of the Dark Side, where all contributed images can be found.

The References Over the season, Da Dark Side of Da Mill was referenced in countless newspapers, evening reports, online groups, and local conversations. Some of the most memorable serve to be: "Every high school in the state should send a scout to The Mill to see how Noblesville does it. I'm serious. I doubt if there is a better show in the state." - Don Jellison, Sports Editor, Noblesville Daily Times "How in the hell do you get this many people to come to a high school basketball game?" - Track Coach, Lafayette Jeff High School "My parents have been to Noblesville basketball games for over the last 30 years, and they said this is by far the best student section they have seen." - Tom Coverdale, NHS Graduate, Indiana Basketball Player of the Year, IU Graduate "We have heard from other refs about this student section. We talked about you guys today actually... who is the roller coaster leader?" - Referee, Anderson Highland vs NHS "In my 20 years of Miller sporting events you all are by far the best I have seen." - Officer Jim Crask, NHS Campus Police "We knew you guys would win (the Spirit Award) but we just had to play it out the whole season." - Dave Calabro, Channel 13 WTHR Sports Reporter