In about a half hour, the Reilly Center will be rocked (or occupied or whatever they're calling it this year), and the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team will play it's first regular-season game. Instead of going to the game as a reporter -- or even cheering from afar as a student -- as I have for the last four years, I'm sitting at a desk at work.

As distanced as I feel from the action, and as disappointed as I am about not witnessing the Bonnies' season as sleepers in the Atlantic 10 and legitimate contenders for a postseason berth, I'm feeling an overwhelming sense of pride and excitement as an alumnus.

I've only felt it once before, right after I received a call offering my first gig in the real world. When I took the job I'm working right now (Don't worry, it's a Friday night during high school football playoffs. I'll be working hard momentarily), I took out my diploma, stared at it and realized what kind of opportunity the university had given me.

I'm feeling that same pride and satisfaction right now.

I've always been kind of scared of big-time college athletics and the culture surrounding it. The money. The corruption. And the misguided feeling that it's pure because "They're just college kids playing sports." I always reserved my loyalties for the school I attended.

I'm glad I did.

My Bonnies hat sits at the desk beside me. I cruised into work under the warmth of a brown hoodie with the university's name stitched across.

Not a lot of people, especially around here, know about my alma mater. And most of the people who do recognize the name do so because of the basketball program. A guy I work with used to play as the Bonnies on an old video game.

So tonight, for me, is not simply about what happens on a basketball court. Tonight is about remembering a great university I attended. It's about remembering all the people I met, the professors who influenced me and the peers who bonded with me. It's about the knowledge embedded in my mind and the character infused in my soul. Tonight, I get to point out a line score, an online video, a blip on the ESPN ticker and say, "Hey, that's St. Bonaventure. That's where I went to school. It's part of who I am."

So I'm not standing and cheering among socially lubricated college students. I'm not taking notes on press row. But I'm sitting at a computer, ready to fire up an online stream, ready and excited to experience St. Bonaventure basketball for the first time as a proud alumnus.

I'm ready to carry on the tradition.

Let's go, Bona's.