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Fair weather fans
To the editor, In my time at the UA, I have never felt a need to write to the Daily Wildcat, though many interesting issues have come up. However, after the performance of the fans, I am left with nothing but disgust and a need to voice my opinion in defense of our football team. Now I know that to see our team begin to lose a huge game is disheartening, but how the fans reacted to this was downright rude. There were 60,000 cheering fans in the stands at the start of the fourth quarter, however nine minutes until the end of the game the crowd had dwindled down to maybe 3,000 fans (including the band and UCLA fans). Now, in case you're wondering why 57,000 people chose to leave their seats and head for home, it was because our hard-working team dropped 2 touchdowns in 3 minutes time. Never mind that at half-time our team was TIED with UCLA. Never mind that until last night, our team had won nine games in a row. Never mind that spectacular play by O. Jenkins to win us last week's game in what before seemed like it was going to be a loss. NO, forget all of that and concentrate on three minutes of play and GIVE UP on our team.Granted, yes our team does need a little kick in the butt every now and then and shouts from fans such as "Come on! What kind of pass was that?!" need to be heard. However, in NO way does a kick in the butt equate with a stab in the back, which is exactly what fans did to our team Saturday night. How do you think it felt to be a member of that team, look up in the stands and see them FULL, fall two touchdowns down, look up again and see the stands empty? No wonder the team gave up and allowed another touchdown! I would too, if that's the kind of support I saw my hometown and university giving me. I mean think about it, how many times have you needed support and your friends turned their backs to you? Not many, I bet. But what happens when your friends support you? You make amazing comebacks. The UA football team has come back to win games in which they were more than 17 points behind before, and they could've done it again. Except everyone else had given up on them. I hate to say it, but the UA football team, despite it's great ranking, performances, talent, etc., does not have many friends here. They have thousands of fair weather fans who show up only when they win and leave as soon as they fall behind. We all want to see the Wildcats go to the top and be the best they can. But that can NEVER happen until fans finally decide to cheer for our team through thick and thin. And that means supporting the team whether they are ahead or behind. Maybe from now on fair weather fans, stay home and watch the television, so you can shut it off when the Wildcats fall two touchdowns behind and leave the tickets for those who will stay the entire game.
Nicole Kost |
