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October 28, 2005 > Sports > A call to all crazy fans, tailgaters, students

A call to all crazy fans, tailgaters, students

By Julia Bursten | Thresher Editorial Staff

Rice is not what is commonly known as a “football school.” For Texans, “football schools” come in two flavors, Aggie and Longhorn. Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, the term “football school” meant Ohio State. Any football school, though, entails two things: tailgating and crazed fans.

I had resigned myself to the fact that neither really existed here. But before Saturday’s game against Navy, I passed by Rice Stadium and encountered something I had never before seen in my 16 months at Rice: a proper tailgate for a live football game.

Granted, the merrymakers were sporting more Midshipmen uniforms than True Blue shirts, but the mere presence of a festive environment surrounding a Rice football game gave me a rush of Owl pride I had not felt in a long time. I started scanning the jovial crowd for familiar faces, and I actually considered attending the game — until I remembered I had a take-home exam to finish.

Sports fans at Rice often complain about this apathetic attitude, and rightly so. For those of us who are casual spectators, going to Rice sports simply is not as much fun as attending other sporting events — either professional sports in Houston or brand-name college football in other cities. It isn’t that I do not want to support my school; I just know I will have more fun if I save my spare time for a more fan-friendly gridiron experience.

So how can Rice football get semi-apathetic fans like me out to the field? We all know it will not be with a top-25 program, and I’m OK with that — if I wanted a bowl team, I would have stayed home with the Buckeyes. But I would like to see some semblance of a football program at my school. I would like our campus to be aware that there is a football game happening every time Rice football steps onto the field. And the first step the Athletics Department should take in that direction is to put the games in our students’ faces: Play more football at Rice Stadium.

I have seen the future of football at Rice, and it is here on campus. Think about it. Students able to see their team play without having to waste gas. Tailgating in the West Lot with Rice students getting rowdy at the opposing team. The sight of Rice Stadium being filled with Rice fans. OK, maybe not yet, but anything could happen if there were more home games and fans started coming to them.

As a member of my college’s Powderpuff football team, I see lots of students expending their tailgating energies each weekend on the IM fields. This, however, is not the way to unify the student body. I am not at all advocating that we stop tailgating Powderpuff — actually, I’d prefer to see more of it — but we need some kind of outlet to celebrate athletics as a full student body instead of as smaller student groups opposing each other. If I could be part of a 700-person fan base cheering on my team, I wouldn’t care what the scoreboard said — I would be too busy getting in the face of the other team. But I don’t want to do it by myself. I want a fan base to fall back on when a shutout is eminent and someone to celebrate with when we end our losing streak. I want to go to football games because of the fans.

Rice is a tiny school playing football against a very competitive NCAA field. No one can reasonably expect us to hold winning records against bigger schools with stronger football programs. But if we’re not in the hunt to win a national football championship, let’s make sure Rice students have fun at the games. Let’s focus less on the numbers and more on the number of fans. Let’s bring the fans back to Rice football by bringing Rice football back to the fans.

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