Show a li’l SUPPORT

May 20, 2008
Peter Bogira
Staff Reporter

Bring on basketball season.

I say that not because football wasn’t a good show. The stands were packed for that last game against Olivet College. The score was knotted at 28 with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter. As usual, plenty of alumni and others with ties to the college showed up. Cars were lined up to tailgate and you couldn’t have asked for better weather.

No, the reason I say bring on basketball season is because everyone is at the games. The cheers at football games are only existent when the band takes the initiative. The cheerleaders even felt compelled to move closer to the stands to get the crowd pumped.

Are you kidding me? Guys are out there, busting their asses to represent this school, and this might be (and was) the seniors’ final chance to do it. Some people came just to tailgate. They asked what the score of “the game” was, but the object of their query played at the Big House, not Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. Did someone end up at the wrong institution?

Until the fourth quarter it was a great game. Despite having troubles on defense, we managed to keep up with them for a while. But sometimes a team needs that 12th player: the fans. What if it wasn’t just about falling apart toward the end of the game? What if we had stood up at the game longer and cheered louder? There go the what-ifs.

The thing about any sport here is that there are almost always some members of the team who are playing their last season in an Albion uniform. As students of this college, we owe it to the athletes to support them. They represent us as well as they can, so why not give them a hand?

That’s why, as the Kresge Krazies come to life again, basketball gives me hope. It is at basketball games where I’ve witnessed what Britons are capable of as fans. Students pack the stands, and there actually is a student section. I can’t say I know anyone who has lost their voice here from a football game, but it’s not unheard of after a home game in Kresge.

It’s one thing to go to Albion College, but it’s another to define for others what exactly makes a Briton. Show some pride. Come to basketball games and give people an idea of what we’re all about. Don’t let it stop there, either. Support all our sports and carry the same attitude with you.

Some people are giving their all to represent us, and we need to show some appreciation.