A few weeks ago I was eager to see the Fresno State Men’s Basketball team play in the Mountain West Tournament against San Diego State, however it was a school day and I had class later that day.
My plan was to get some food while I watched the first half of the game, before I had to get to my next class. So I decided that I would watch it at The Bucket, the on-campus bar and grill.
I thought that if any place on campus would have the game on that it would be there, but I was wrong.
When I showed up to the bar, the only thing that they had playing was an old baseball game and the rest of the TVs were tuned up to QVC and CNBC’s Mad Money.
As I ordered my food, I asked the cashier if they were going to show the game. She told me that she didn’t think they were, and this came to me as a shock. This was where all the students were hanging out, and the Bulldogs were playing on national TV.
I ordered my food to-go and made my way to The Collegian office where I listened to the radio stream via the web.
This was not the first instance that I have seen poor school spirit at Fresno State.
Recently, I covered the last home match of the season for the women’s basketball team and the student section was mainly comprised of the school’s band and about 10 to 12 students sitting there.
The scene was kind of sad to see because that section was specifically left for students who get in the game for free with student ID. Women’s basketball is not the only sport that suffers from low student attendance.
I have covered lacrosse, baseball and softball, and even though there is strong community involvement in those games there isn’t much student involvement.
A lot of factors have contributed to the lack of student involvement, but I believe that the most important factor is the lack of advertisement by the school. When gameday comes around not many students are aware, because there are no signs or ads that tell the students about the games.
Students occasionally get the student-appreciation day or the student day at the games with some sort of promotion, but other than that there isn’t much to grab the attention of students. Some students don’t even know that they can get into some games for free or that they can even bring in someone else with their student ID.
There has to be a better way to have school pride on campus and not just to wear the school colors or a shirt with a bulldog, but to actually show support for the teams that represent the school.
Maybe the formation of a club whose only purpose is for students to support the school’s teams on home games and maybe even away games can help the lack of school spirit.
Whether it is promotion or a new club or maybe even turning the lights in the main fountain red during game day, it can only help boost our school spirit.