SANTORO: Time to go back to Lawlor and support the Pack

It is now safe to come back to Lawlor Events Center. Don't be frightened.

This is not some nasty little Internet pop-up ad just to get you to buy tickets to the Cirque du Soleil shows this spring at the Biggest Little Circular Cement Structure in Northern Nevada. This is merely to alert you to something special dressed in Silver & Blue going down at the dark, damp and dated 1980s cookie cutter creation known as the home of the Wolf Pack.

So, ladies and gentlemen, grab hold of your hats, spouses, children and the nearest cheerleader, sit tight in your seat, put down your popcorn and turn off your cell phone because now, direct from some far-off mysterious gymnasium at a secret location we cannot divulge, we bring you Cirque du Pack, a dramatic mix of circus arts, street entertainment and, yes, even some basketball.

We'd also wish we could ask you to be sure to look up over the top of the Cement Cirque du Northern Nevada as you stroll to the gate and peer into the night air to see Alphie and Wolfie hovering over the arena in mid-air bathed by a soft spotlight that can be seen from space. But not enough of you have shown up for the first 10 performances and, well, the budget is tight.

So you'll just have to be content to watch some edge-of-the-seat, no-lead-is-safe, no-pass-is-automatic exciting-one-minute, pull-your-hair-out-the-next breathtaking basketball.

Still frightened?

Don't be. You should be intrigued. Fascinated. Curious. You'll see things you've only heard about in quiet whispers and winks at strange parties. So leave your inhibitions and expectations at the door. The only thing required is an open mind.

David Carter is the director, playwright, screenwriter, producer, author, songwriter and head coach of this traveling troupe of fabulously talented young entertainers known as the Wolf Pack. Over the past dozen weeks or so the Pack put on lively productions ranging from David Carter's Meet the Pack to David Carter's House of Pain to, finally, David Carter's Big Happy Family.

That's why it is safe now to venture out into the night, leave the safety of your satellite dish, Netflix subscription and ESPN, and come watch this team. It deserves your support.

First of all, they currently own a four-game winning streak.

That streak alone should be enough to entice you to check out a performance. But, still, before you commit, a word of warning. In the world of Cirque du Pack there is no such thing as a flawless performance.

Actually, you might want to also get your heart checked out before you watch the Wolf Pack this season. One possession will be compelling, enthralling and delightful and the next trip up the court will be agony, misery and torment. San Francisco Giants fans, you have no idea what true torture is.

But that torture, that torment, those countless he-just-did-what? moments are what make this Pack basketball team so endearing.

Big-time college basketball is rarely fun for a team that started the season with less chemistry than a freshman gym class on the first day of school. Big-time basketball is not fun when you dump a seven-game losing streak on your season in the first three weeks. And big-time college basketball is rarely fun when all you see night after night is a half-empty arena staring back at you.

Just 4,570 people on average have come to see Cirque du Pack this year. That's the lowest average Pack attendance since a dreadful 1998-99 team enticed 4,400 a game to show up. Just 5,967 bothered to show up in early December to see a very good UNLV team play the Pack. Just 3,666 came to see Arizona State on Dec. 17 and just 4,339 bothered to see if the Pack could upset Utah State on Jan. 8.

Pack fans are tough that way. They are strict disciplinarian parents and owners who are determined to teach their young puppies right from wrong. There are no, "Aw, that's a good puppy, here's a treat" after they stained the carpet. Pack fans are the definition of tough love.

It's called building character and forming good habits, character and habits that will hopefully produce another memorable Pack moment someday.

A puppy, after all, is going to be a puppy. And there will still be a lot of puppy moments with this team. That football team this fall was a veteran bunch hardened by years of frustration, torture and wet-carpet moments. This basketball team is nowhere near that stage of development.

Yes, they've won four in a row. And, yes, they are now 8-13 with a .500 record in sight. But those four victories were simply accomplished during play dates with other mischievous puppies who just happened to soil more spots on the carpet than they did. They could have just as easily lost three of those four games.

That Kraft Bowl buzz has to have worn off by now, right? It is perfectly fine to come out of your man cave, buy a ticket and fill one of those 6,000 empty seats. Hey, you might even see Alphie hovering in the night air. But we're not promising anything. And this team won't promise you anything either, except a good honest effort.

That 8-13 record right now, after all, could turn into something like 16-14 come Western Athletic Conference tournament time in early March. That would mean 12 wins in its last 13 games, a phenomenal run for a bunch of clueless pups that were sitting with a naughty 4-13 record just two weeks ago and watering the carpet and chewing the furniture on a nightly basis.

OK, yes, it's not 2006-07 all over again. Nobody is saying that. But what we are saying is that it doesn't have to be 2006-07 all over again for this team to go back to the NCAA Tournament. All it takes is a few memorable moments in March.

Now, you don't want to miss that, do you?

Of course you don't.