COLUMN: Be the best fans, period
It’s that time of the year.
The fall sports season is here, and Utah State teams have seasons under way.
Of course the majority of students and Cache Valley residents are pumped for football, and rightfully so. The team is coming off of it’s first bowl game appearance in 17 years, improving with each day of practice, and fans have high hopes for this season.
No disrespect to the football team, but when are Aggie fans going to spread the love to other USU squads? Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that week after week fans fill Romney Stadium and that shouldn’t change. But if the Aggie faithful truly are the “best fans in the country” as so many profess to be, shouldn’t they be as faithful to the other university teams?
Especially those that are bringing home championships – conference and national.
Props to the fans that are at each home game regardless of the sport, but attendance of 200-500 people at soccer or volleyball games — even less at club team sports — compared to 4,000-plus at football and basketball just doesn’t seem right.
Fortunately this mistake can be rectified.
Thursday at the first home football game of the season, Utah State’s club baseball team will be honored for its national – that’s right, national – championship this past season. Three months after this team’s historic feat, how many students are even aware of this accomplishment? How many Cache Valley residents are aware?
When the football team came back from the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, a plethora of fans and major media outlets were there to welcome them home. Again, no disrespect to the football team, but when the baseball team returned from it national title run, less than 20 people were there and I was the lone media representative.
And if it’s because baseball is a club sport, that’s lame, but it’s not. Women’s basketball and women’s soccer both had record-breaking seasons in 2011-12, and neither stadium came close to being filled, even for the big games.
Cross-country has won more conference championships than any other sport in the past decade – except for basketball – but get no love from the fans. The same goes for track and field.
I know, we live in America, football and basketball are the most popular sports. But we’re Utah State, home of the greatest fans in the country. Shouldn’t we be supporting every team — through success and failure — with our attendance and excitement at competitions?
So Aggie fans, spread the love. Continue the outstanding support of the football team, but let the love overflow into the other sporting arenas. Let’s take our loyalty and fanship to the next level.
– Curtis Lundstrom is a junior majoring in print journalism. His life ambition is to bowl a perfect game and officiate high school or college basketball. Send any comments to curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu and follow him on Twitter @curtislundstrom.