COLUMN: Summer is here, but keep up on our Aggies
Not to be cliche, but it’s about that time again. USU students are heading home for the summer sun and jobs, girlfriends and boyfriends, to be with family, go on a cruise or leave for a mission. Maybe a handful of you are staying in Cache Valley until next fall. Some have jobs, got married, are taking a few credits or getting residency.
Whether staying or heading out, you and I have great opportunity to see great things in Logan and keep up with all things sports online. I’m talking about attending home softball games extending into the week after finals; checking how Tyson McFarland, Ben Schilleman and the rest of the Aggie golfers do at the WAC championships next week in Reno; following the results of the men’s and women’s tennis teams from today through Friday at the WAC tournament in Boise; calling your friends on the track team and supporting them in the five meets they have left, all the way to nationals in June; loading a convoy and heading down to Ogden for the first soccer match against Weber on August 19 and coming back two days later to see our women take on national-powerhouse Portland State at Bell Field.
Most people reading this will probably never be in college again after graduation. If you are anything like my father, there will be a powerful sense of Aggie pride rooted deep in your heart for the rest of your life. Sports are how we identify with our university. Our self worth is connected with our team’s win/loss percentage, especially over our rivals (Happy October First, Aggie fans).
My point is, don’t just turn off the refrigerator light of Aggie athletics when you shut the door of the academic school year. You and I need to be Aggies, not just in the Spectrum, but in every aspect of life. I’m not saying painting your face blue every morning is necessary or appropriate, although wearing a game day shirt every day or two is. Becoming knowledgeable about the teams and schedules we have here is a great place to start.
There is a new and rising attitude concerning Aggie football. Coaches and players have seen it, and thanks to ESPN, the entire nation saw Gary Andersen’s crew win back the Wagon Wheel. However my friends, we have a long ways to go.
We all dream of seeing our nationally ranked Aggies on national television putting the beat-down on the elitist BCS schools. If we truly desire this, we need to follow the examples set by national powerhouses. Ohio State charges $15 dollars a ticket to see their spring game while everyone watching the game at Merlin Olsen Field got in for free. Michigan State’s attendance last year was roughly 30,000, dwarfing the estimated 4,800 in Romney Stadium last Saturday. There were so many Oregon fans who wanted to see the spring game that the final scrimmage was televised on ESPN2.
The solution to the problems with Aggie football will not be found by charging higher ticket prices to larger crowds at spring scrimmages or fall home games or getting national news coverage all day every day, nor will it be found by firing coaches every three or four years (which Utah State has a bad reputation of doing).
Not to be cliche again, but the answer lies in the hearts of Aggies everywhere. It is one thing for us to say “in Gary we trust,” but to gain football salvation you and I must act on the trust we proclaim and support Coach A in everything he does. Aggie fans, I’m talking about the basic knowledge of playmakers on both sides of the ball. I’m talking about being to every home game and every tailgate party beforehand. I’m talking about stampeding with the HURD. I’m talking about letting the football players in your science class know how much this next game means to you and congratulating them on their latest win. I’m talking about watching USU rise to the top of the WAC standings and thinking about football every day. I’m talking about reading every media release and newspaper article you can to soak up every ounce of football knowledge you can get to. I’m not talking about knowing about Aggie football, I’m talking about knowing Aggie football.
Once we do that, I’d love to start talking about the return of the glory days when Utah State was known as Tackle U, and when the Aggies will be playing on national television in the national championship.
– Tavin Stucki is a freshman majoring in journalism and has been an Aggie fan since birth. His goal in life is to watch out for the little guys. He can be reached at tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu