A student section for men's basketball games isn't going to happen anytime soon, and yet, it's always one of the most emotional topics on campus each spring. Students get mad at the old folks for not giving the students what they want, while alumni yell back and tell us youngsters to have some respect for our elders.
Recent student letters to the Daily Wildcat have complained about things such as a rich, old lady sitting quietly at a game, doing nothing to cheer her team on and leaving 10 minutes early.
That's definitely frustrating. It's not cool to see TV cameras scan an arena with a bunch of empty seats with six or seven minutes left on the clock, especially during a close game.
But these types don't make up the majority of McKale fans. You can hear it at a game, and it comes across just as well on TV: UA fans, young and old, get loud.
"People think that we just have a lot of old fans and they can't get loud, but they can get loud," said Channing Frye, after over 5,000 screaming UA fans made the trip to Arizona State Jan. 3 to cheer on the Wildcats.
With a mix of students and alumni in the stands, there is a greater sense of community. Men's basketball is Tucson's only forum in which 20 and 70-year-olds get noisy for the same cause. It's awesome to see a rowdy freshman cheering his or her lungs off alongside a Class of 1950-something alumni.
Think the old folks can't get loud? Go to one of the women's games.
Senior citizens make up at least two-thirds of any UA women's basketball game, and they were remarkably vocal all season ÷ especially when the Wildcats faced then-No. 7 Stanford last month. The 4,000-plus in attendance didn't sit down for the final five minutes of the close contest, and the players and coaches were quick to acknowledge the fans' role in the Wildcats' 88-83 win that night.
The Wildcat women have a 27-game home winning streak. They were a perfect 14-0 in McKale this season, compared to an 8-7 record away from home.
The old folks must be doing something right.
In their anti-student section stance, most alumni might note something that most students are too young to remember: The men's team didn't lose a single game in McKale for six years.
From 1987-1992, the Wildcats ran up a 71-game home winning streak, the 10th-longest in NCAA men's hoops history, and the longest active streak at the time.
Most alumni would note that there wasn't a student section back then, either.
Many current students cite the success of other programs that are more accommodating to their students, suggesting the Wildcats would have even more success at home with a raucous student section. The most common example is Duke, where the "Cameron Crazies" make the Blue Devils' home court the most rambunctious in the nation.
Arguably, the two best active coaches in NCAA basketball are Lute Olson and Mike Krzyzewski. Compare their track records: Under Krzyzewski, Duke has a .850 winning percentage at home. Arizona's home win percentage is .932 under Olson.
Arizona is 94-10 at home (.904) since its 1996-97 championship campaign, and even went 14-2 in Tucson (.875) during this subpar season.
Aside from the win-loss argument, a lot of students fail to look to the future when they can boast that Arizona is their alma mater. We go to school for four or five years, but are alumni forever after.
Most students clamoring for a student section will have a different point of view 20, 10 or even five years down the road.
Every student is tired of the whole "the alumni put in good money to get their seats" argument. But it's an argument a lot of current students will make in the coming years.
One might say McKale Center is unique in that it doesn't have a student section. Is that a bad thing?
Historically, it doesn't seem to be.
Shane Dale is a political science senior. He can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu..