USU crowd not what it once was
Get your ass out of your apartment or house or wherever it is that you may live and get yourself to the game.
It appears that this season the size of the crowd that supports Aggie basketball has changed.
Stew Morrill knows how important a full Spectrum is. In nearly all of his pre-game press conferences Morrill tries to get the crowd to come help out his team at home.
“I hope our crowd understands that this is a team that has been in the top 25 and has been getting a lot of votes … could very well be in the top 25,” said Morrill before the game against Wyoming. “These are the games that everybody wanted in the Mountain West Conference, so here they are.”
He’s been here long enough to see it when it was in its prime time, so imagine his disappointment at tip-off yesterday when only half of the student section behind the basket was full and the student corner seats above the band were nearly empty.
“Let’s rally,” Morrill said. “The home courts you find in this league are exceptional, and when ours is at its best, it’s exceptional. We need it at its best over the remainder of our home games in league play.”
The statements Morrill made were before the game, but what happened at the game was something entirely different.
With ten minutes to the tip off in the biggest game of the year, the student section was half empty. That’s bad.
What has gotten into the USU faithful? Where have they gone? One of the things that drew me to attend Utah State was the crowd at basketball games. As I watched those games in high school, I wanted to be a part of that. A half full section isn’t nearly as attractive — or distractive — as a full one is.
The crowd that does show up does a great job of causing mayhem. The Hurd and the Bangarang are up to par as they always have been. The rest of the students are not.
People come up with all sorts of reasons as to why the Spectrum isn’t as full. They say that it’s hard to get to games on the weekdays, it’s hard to get to games on the weekend, classes, papers due and the team isn’t as good as it used to be. Excuses. The team was expected to be worse this year but is exceeding expectations and very entertaining to watch.
Consider this as well: Maybe the team won’t be as good as it used to be until the crowd is as good as it used to be.
I know people get busy and as a student you should do your work, but plan ahead and get it done. Everyone can get one free out every year, that’s understandable. For all other games you should be in attendance.
In recent memory two games stick out when the Spectrum was close to or at its full potential. Last season versus San Diego State and this season versus Weber State. Even these games don’t live up to the reputation the Spectrum held of old. In the late 1990s and early 2000s you had to show up early as a student or you wouldn’t even get into the game.
Like Morrill said, when the Spectrum is at its best, it’s exceptional. But it’s not going to be at its best when it isn’t full. So to finish things up, this is my call to all of you students out there who don’t go to games, don’t have school spirit and aren’t supporting your Aggies.
Let’s do our part and bring that reputation back to being one of the best in the nation.
— Kalen Taylor is a sophomore double-majoring in journalism and Spanish. He’s all about football, basketball, tennis, hockey and anything to do with sports … except for baseball; that’s just not his thing. Watch for him living the dream on ESPN one day. Contact him at kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com or on Twitter @kalen_taylor.