COLUMN: New students pay attention, Aggie pride is in the air

Tavin Stucki

Can you feel it? I can.

It’s something about the hot August air. It’s something about freshmen on the fountain steps. There are cars in the Stadium parking lot. The bookstore is busy. Maybe you haven’t fully unpacked those boxes or found your notepad yet. You probably just posted about your last hurrah of summer on Facebook and Twitter.

Well, I guess it’s about that time.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Tavin Stucki. I’m the sports editor at the Statesman and the football beat writer. I’ve heard more than a few people tell me the sports page is the most read section in this paper, so if that’s true, I should have the captive audience of just about everyone on campus right now. I’d like to direct my thoughts to all of you here – students and teachers alike – so please read carefully.

Some of you have been at Utah State for a little while now and know what’s up. Some of you are freshman who don’t. Either way, Big Blue needs YOU to become a better fan.

Maybe you don’t know anything about Aggie football. Maybe you do. Either way, the Statesman is here to help. No USU student can be a real fan without being informed and educated.

From football and basketball, to handball and rodeo, the Statesman has the most complete sports coverage of any newspaper in the world when it comes to USU Athletics. If there’s a sport at USU, it’s part of the Statesman sports page.

You probably haven’t been to any Aggie baseball games. If you haven’t seen the sign with the schedule on it, you probably don’t even know we have a wrestling team. You might not know USU has a lacrosse, rugby and hockey team. Well, you probably knew we have a hockey team. Or at least you’d better. To help you students know what’s up and not look like a freshman, we are here to give you the heads up on how these teams are doing.

Have you ever wanted to see your name and picture in the paper? Remember what it was like in high school when you had all the reporters wanting to ask you about that 90-yard pass to win the game in the fourth quarter or the buzzer-beating trey in the state playoffs? This year we’re going to give you a chance to relive the past like Uncle Rico. We’re covering a lot more intramural sports than we have in the past, so stack your teams up and get ready to make a run at intramural champion.

Read the Statesman sports page, and we won’t let you down. I’m taking it upon myself to help you not be that guy who stands next to the water cooler and looks like a tool when he says, “Robert Wagner is great! Did you hear about that 79-yard pass against BYE last year?”

 

Tavin Stucki is a sophomore majoring in print journalism. He is the sports editor for the Utah Statesman and writes USU football stories for ksl.com. He is an avid Aggie fan and has been since birth. Follow him on twitter at @tavinstucki for football updates.