Great job, athletes. Please, give yourselves a hand. You’ve managed to hit an all-time low.
Franklin & Marshall’s Justin Herbert received a louder ovation than every Binghamton wrestler combined Saturday at the West Gym. His opponent, Sam Sirota, must have felt right at home.
I counted four BU athletes in the crowd last weekend, but let’s round that number up to 10 just in case I missed a few people. Talk about showing your support.
Wrestling might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It certainly isn’t mine. But it was the team’s ONLY home meet of the semester! And it lasted just a little longer than an hour!
I’m sure a couple of BU teams were on the road that day. And some athletes might have been sick or went home for the weekend or had something really important to do. But what about the other 200 of you?
After the volleyball team defeated Maine on Oct. 14 in front of 680 fans, a few of the players said the crowd’s support definitely contributed to their win. In all fairness, you could have packed 5,000 students in the West Gym Saturday and the wrestling team still would have lost. They need a 197-pounder a lot more than your inspiration. But this isn’t about winning and losing.
I’ve been to games on campus where you could count the number of fans on your hands. You athletes wear your black sweatshirts, practice at the Events Center together and then party at the soccer house. Isn’t the next logical step going to each other’s games?
How can you expect other students to come watch you play when you don’t even support each other? Maybe you just don’t care.
For those athletes who want things to change at BU and who hope attendance increases at their home games, here’s your chance to make a difference — at tomorrow’s women’s basketball game. This is the last time seniors Jen Blues, Jen Haubrich and Rachel Laws will ever suit up on the Events Center floor.
If I look up at the student section tomorrow and see 20 faces, the Athletic Department hasn’t come as far as I thought. Maybe it isn’t too late for Joel Thirer to start from scratch at Broome Community College.