DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Bucknellian.
Wow! We filled the student section for the first Men’s Basketball game of the season! It was great to see so much orange and blue while hearing the excitement from the fans. This was a significant departure from the usual scenario of just a few scattered students at Sojka. Typically, the Bison Band, Bisonettes and Bison Girls make up most of the student section for games. The games with the highest attendance tend to be the first, last and those in between that offer substantial incentives, like the basketball game from last year that was televised nationally and featured trivia for a $1,000 prize. It begs the question: Why do we need to be bribed to have school spirit at Bucknell?
Bison Nation and Coach Griffin put in a lot of effort to promote and boost attendance for this first game, and their hard work paid off. It was quite impressive to witness so many people wearing the orange Sojka 6 shirts. However, it was a bit disappointing to see the student section dwindle to at least half of its original size after halftime. Moreover, most of the crowd consisted of athletes who consistently show up to support one another during significant games. They do this because they recognize the positive impact that an enthusiastic audience can have on the games.
I can personally attest, having been part of the Bison Band for the past three years, that having fans in the stands makes a tremendous difference. The atmosphere is entirely transformed when there are hundreds of students passionately cheering and infusing the games with spirit. There is a limit to what the cheerleaders, a band of around 45 students and the dance teams can do. Our sports teams are performing exceptionally well, and they truly deserve our support. Just imagine how much better they could be if they consistently felt our support and the energy of fans at every home game.
Based on past experience, it’s unlikely that we’ll see another crowd at a game like this for a while. But I’m challenging you to prove me wrong and maintain the same level of support we showed for this game. It’s worth noting that this particular game didn’t carry as much weight because the University of Delaware isn’t part of the Patriot League. Our Patriot League basketball games start in the spring, and if Bucknell wants to keep up the claim that the Bison Nation has the best student section in the Patriot League, we need to consistently show up and make our presence felt.
Of course, this isn’t exclusive to basketball alone. We have 27 exceptional Division I sports, many of which excel in the Patriot League. It would be truly wonderful if they could experience the same level of support we demonstrated for basketball last Monday. It’s disheartening to see first-year students arrive at games all dressed in orange and blue, only to discover that the messages of school spirit conveyed during orientation seem to fade after convocation. Let’s work together to reverse this trend and rekindle school spirit for the benefit of our athletic teams and our community. ’Ray Bucknell!