Federal Way coach Jerome Collins’ suits are often the talk of the state tournaments. The man knows how to dress. This morning, he’s sporting a loose-fitting lavender-and-white checkered suit, a lavender vest, a purple tie and lavender pants.

I asked students from Federal Way and Franklin what they thought about Wednesday’s selection.

Here’s what some had to say:

Franklin junior Nick Caldwell: “It’s nice. It’s colorful. It brings out the color in his skin. It’s flashy for a high school game, yeah, but everybody’s themselves.”

Federal Way senior David Park: “He’s fresh. Fresh every time. He looks a bit like a Froot Loops box or Willy Wonka, but I like it.”

Franklin junior Samrawit Bekele: “I think it’s ugly. It’s not very manly. He should wear something more manly.”

Federal Way senior Ufa Tauile: “He’s fitted. It looks fresh. I don’t know what else to say except that it looks good on him.”

Franklin sophomore Sami Abera: “I think he shouldn’t have worn the suit. He could’ve bought a better suit. It ain’t Easter yet.”

It’s a long day for Matt Baer and Jon Wu. The two Bellarmine Prep freshmen arrived at the Tacoma Dome shortly before noon to play in the pep band during the girls team’s opening-round game against Snohomish.

But that was just the start of their jam-packed schedule.

Even though Bellarmine Prep students were dismissed at 11 a.m. to root on their classmates, the two had to head back to the Jesuit school’s campus for track-and-field practice. (They both run the 1,600- and 3,200-meter events.)

This evening, they’ll be back at the Tacoma Dome at 6 p.m., an hour before the Bellarmine boys play Richland.

“It’s going to be busy,” Baer said, “but it’s going to be worth it.”

The band practices all year, said freshman Jamarion Mayo, and this is one of the biggest crowds in front of which they’ll play all year.

“I like it because we get to cheer the teams on,” said Mayo, who plays the snare drum. “We usually don’t play two games in one day, but I’m up for it.”

Give credit to Chase Anderson. In a sea of goofy-dressed fans, the junior from Shadle Park topped them all.

Before he left Spokane for Tacoma on Tuesday, he and some friends wanted to find an outfit that would stand out. They spent about $20 at a Wal-Mart and came up with a look that’s, umm, interesting.

Start with the head. He’s wearing an electric-orange wig underneath a green-plaid headscarf tucked under a Shadle Park hat.

He also used the same plaid material to cut a sash that hangs over his inflatable fat suit and wore a black-and-white shirt and green-plaid boxers.

He wore red-plaid socks underneath calf-high white ones and white hospital covers over his shoes.

He bounced around the stands, screamed and played air guitar while the Highlanders cruised to a first-round victory.

“I just wanted to do something that could top all the other things I usually wear,” the 16-year-old Anderson said. “I pretty much just picked random stuff and tried to make the funniest outfit I could find.”

He had set the bar high: Two of his favorite outfits were an 1980s-style mustard-yellow basketball uniform (complete with knee-high socks and way-too-high shorts) and a wrestling singlet.

In the upper decks of the Tacoma Dome, far above the face-painted students chanting unoriginal cheers and teachers relaxing on an unexpected day off, the hardcore prep basketball fans sit.

”I’ve been doing this since 1966,” Gene Bonner said. The West Seattle native leaned back in his chair almost directly in front of the heavy black curtain that separates the two courts. His head swayed slightly between the two games, and he used binoculars dangling from his neck when the action got intense.

About 30 of them spread around the second layer of stands before the 9 a.m. tip-off of Wednesday’s first games in the Class 4A state tournament: Decatur boys vs. Snohomish and Lake Stevens girls vs. Mount Tahoma.

The ability to watch both games simultaneously was a draw for the group of mostly middle-aged men. So was the laid-back atmosphere. Blue-and-orange-clad Decatur students stood on their seats and clogged the aisles to try to get a better view in the lower stands. In the upper decks, people were able to stretch their legs over the chairs in front of them and read the sports section.

Snohomish’s Dave Manzanares and Mount Vernon’s Dick Snow said they’ve been watching the state basketball tournament for more than 20 years. The two also like to banter about the games and don’t want to disturb others sitting near them.

“We just like a little room to talk,” Manzanares said, “and this provides a little privacy.”

The Tacoma Dome plays host to the tournaments for Class 4A and Class 2A; the others are at Yakima, Spokane and Seattle.

“This is our favorite spot,” Manzanares said, “but there’s one problem: The food here stinks.”

There are a few things that will ruin your morning. A NyQuil hangover. A real hangover. The breakfast sandwich at the Tacoma Dome.

And then there’s this little ditty that my RSS feeder kicked up: According to a computer simulation, a 9.0 earthquake would not only be not good for Washington, but Tacoma (and Seattle, Olympia and Vancouver, Wash.) would be especially bad off.

“What the scientists learned from this simulation is not reassuring,” read PhysOrg.com.

It continues:

The long-duration shaking, combined with high ground velocities, raises the possibility that such an earthquake could inflict major damage on metropolitan areas -- especially on high-rise buildings in downtown Seattle. Compounding the risks, like Los Angeles to the south, Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia sit on top of sediment-filled geological basins that are prone to greatly amplifying the waves generated by major earthquakes.

It's early. It's loud. That means the state basketball tournaments at the Tacoma Dome are about to get under way.

I'll be here much of the day chatting with players, coaches, fans and workers in the broad, go-there-and-capture-the-vibe-of-the-event kind of story editors love to call "scene-setters."