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| Drink a highball at nightfall. |
The Penn Lady Quakers lost to Cornell 58-67. But the real loss was that the crowd in the stands seemed to have little cross over with the crowd on Locust Walk. It appeared that only parents and alumni joined my friends and I in the stands. Unfortunately, the norm for Penn basketball games is a decent, but wanting level of attendance.
During one of my graduate school interviews , I had the fortune of attending a University of Michigan basketball game. I was blown away by their passion. Fans were ferociously and single-mindedly devoted to a Blue win, a fervor some wish was here at Penn. The Michigan fight song broke out several times, demonstrating that students were more interested in displaying school pride than disparaging their opponents with overdone cries of “a-hole.”
It’s disappointing that the only Penn basketball shirts I see around campus are Penn vs. Princeton designs. We should love and cling to our Penn sweatshirts, not only when it’s cold. With our current senior class and rich athletic history, Penn has enough to cheer for on its own merits. Penn pride should swell at every tip-off, every home game.
Now, we certainly boast some passionate fans, even outside of the Red & Blue Crew . The spirited students I fantasize about made their way out of the dorms for the classic Penn-Princeton game last week. Brian Head of the Penn
Athletics Marketing Department estimated the crowd at roughly 1,000 students. Even so, for Penn’s most highly publicized home game, we could have come out in even fuller force.
Former Senior Sports Editor Joshua Hirsch noted in an e-mail interview about the Penn-Princeton game, “I definitely like the intensity of the students that are there. Am I disappointed that more students don’t come? Yeah, but it’s a lot better than every other Ivy League school.”
Let’s not take for granted the chance to cheer on our team, even after the season is over with upcoming March Madness events. After all, you only live, or live at a Division I school, but once.
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February 22nd, 2007 at 11:31 am
You’re a bit too late: The only two home games left are the two days before spring break, which nobody ever shows up to. And the Princeton game’s attendance was very likely hurt by the heavy snow that night.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Maybe it’s because you went to the ladies basketball. Nobody ever goes to watch them.
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
I’ll tell you the big difference between Michigan and Princeton. Joe Scott can’t beat his rival and still keeps his job. That would never, ever happen here at Michigan.