COLUMN: Sports need our support
I have noticed a few things that many of you have not, and I think it is important that I relate what I see. So, pull your eyes off those bioch notes for just a few minutes and give me your attention.
Sports are being played right here on campus.
Based on attendance at campus athletic contests, this fact is foreign to many of you.
I recently watched the men's club soccer team play Texas A&M University to a 0-0 tie in what was one of the finest games of the year in any sport. The win could have secured the Owls a regional berth and came against an Aggie team that is at the top of the conference.
This was an excellent soccer game by any standards, club or otherwise. The game personified everything that I love about sports: great athletes competing in high pressure situations and, even if only for a brief moment, playing perfectly. The game was awesome, and I felt privileged to witness it.
Yet, I would estimate the crowd contained less than 70 people.
Even worse, more than half were A&M fans who either made the trip down from College Station or met the team in Houston to offer support.
Rice had more athletes on the field than fans in the stands.
The game might as well have been played in College Station because there was no home-field advantage to speak of.
Granted, the Rice players knew where the potholes were on the field and the Aggies did not, but this ended up meaning little. When a Rice player would make a spectacular play, the players on the sideline attempted to cheer as loud as the Aggie fans to make up for the difference in attendance.
It was sad to see so little support for our athletes.
Unfortunately, this trend is not reserved for soccer games. Few fans come out for any sporting event on campus. Why is this?
Well, I at first wrote it off as a product of a nation-wide anti-sports mentality. Baseball strikes, player misconduct and other scandals have given America a bad taste when it comes to athletics in general.
Professional athletes are seen as pampered millionaires and owners viewed as profit-driven leeches who ruin each sport. Here in Houston, both the Oilers and the Astros are attempting to move out of town, and, for the most part, no one seems to care.
Fans are disgusted and have little reason to show any fan support or loyalty to local teams.
It therefore seems reasonable to think that such behavior could filter down from the professional ranks to the college level. It is not a far jump from "pro sports are bad" to "all sports are bad."
Furthermore, college sport scandals have painted a picture of NCAA athletics as nothing more than the farm league for corrupt professional leagues.
Yet, I do not believe that this alone can explain poor attendance.
Rice is rarely on top of the national rankings, and this may contribute to a lack of campus-wide interest.
Other factors may include the widening social rift between varsity athletes and the rest of campus. Many students seem to resent the athletes here at Rice. Such animosity could also explain why students rarely come out to watch our teams compete.
I cannot explain this behavior, and I cannot condone it either.
Rice has excellent participation in intramural athletics, so I know that on one level or another, students enjoy sports. Its unfortunate that this interest does not extend beyond the intramural level.
What can be done to change this trend? Well I guess Rice could offer free beer outside the stadium or give away TVs as door prizes to fans, but that is, well, stupid. Bribing fans has not worked on the professional level, and it won't work here.
What needs to occur is a complete change in the way Rice students perceive athletics. At the college level, sports can not be viewed as merely entertainment. Our schools integrity is laid on the line every time one of our teams take the field.
That is not to say that losing a game destroys this integrity. Our fans, our athletes and our campus support for teams reflect on the university. When no fans show up to watch a game, it gives the impression that as a student body, we do not care about our athletes.
But support does matter. An athletic contest can be changed by the intensity of the crowd. A large following can make an athlete feel like he is representing an entire school rather than just a team.
Support gives each team more of a reason to play and play hard. This is how the term "home-field advantage" came into existence.
Furthermore, students need to realize that athletes are their peers. You eat lunch with them in your colleges, and you sit in the same classes with them. Just as we should not abandon anyone within the college, we should not abandon our athletes when they take the field.
Sooner or later, campus disinterest in athletics will have repercussions. Whether a drop in recruiting or the eventual elimination of certain sports, small crowds can only hurt the university. After all, what good is athletics if no one comes to watch? Except for the benefits of competition reaped by athletes, not much good at all.
It's time for students to understand that they are doing a disservice to Rice in general when no one comes out for athletic contests.
If the student body truly cares about the direction of the school, they will strengthen the support for our athletes.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 27, 1995 issue.
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