In the past, when other columnists have opted to write about the lack of fan support at Tufts sports, they have simply attacked students. And students are to blame, in part, for not showing up to support their peers, who represent their school against other schools.
But the blame for a lack of student support extends beyond the students. Tufts' athletics department, which I will get into later, must shoulder some of the blame, for it does not do a suitable job of promoting its teams.
However, a lot of the time, there is no one to blame other than a vibrant city. I've been to Colby and Williams. Both are typical locales for NESCAC schools, in that they are in the middle of nowhere. Actually, I've been to the middle of nowhere - the northwoods of Wisconsin - and that was more exciting than Waterville, ME. The point is, if you are a student at Colby or Williams, or Bowdoin or Bates, there is nothing to do other than attend sporting events.
We are privileged to live close to Boston, where the city's sights often prove too enticing to students who would otherwise be watching a campus soccer match.
So there's nothing we can do about that. If people would rather watch Blue Man Group than a volleyball match, then I guess that's okay. But there still remains a large portion of the student body who sit around campus deciding what to do on a Tuesday or Saturday afternoon. And when they decide to watch TV, or do homework, or talk on instant messenger for hours on end, instead of attending Tufts sports, I say shame on them.
"Sports at Tufts are the school's best kept secret," Athletic Director Bill Gehling said.
A valid point, but one that should be changed. To those of you who do not attend the games for a variety of reasons, I say stop trying to act too cool. Get out of your dorm room or house, and support your school. Hell, support your friends. Tufts is so small you surely know a few athletes.
"The athletes work hard," Gehling said. "They are very talented, and they deserve to have people watch them."
Supporting your school against another is an American tradition as old as colleges themselves. And aside from a core of supporters who show up to almost every sport, Tufts is filled with students who choose not to participate in this time-honored tradition. Spend Saturday supporting your school.
Would it be more exciting to go to games if Tufts had a legitimate rival? Sure it would, but it's just as easy to hate many schools rather than just one. I detest Williams Amherst, Bates, and Bowdoin.
But like I said, it's not just the students' faults. Gehling is the first to admit that the athletic department isn't doing all it can to promote their teams.
"We could do a better job," Gehling said. "There should be better coordination between us and the Spirit Coalition."
One of the pitfalls the athletic department faces is that the task of publicizing the teams does not fall within anyone's job description. The department has a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which has been in existence for three years, and the job falls primarily on this body's shoulders. But that is not enough.
The Athletic Department has posted fliers to advertise, but it can go so much further. Campus wide e-mails, messages left on campus phone numbers, chalkings, and promotions are all easy ways for the Athletic Department to whip up some school spirit.
But the bottom line is that the number and vibrancy of fans depends, in large part, on the success of the team. In my four years at Tufts, I can count three times when student interest was particularly high. Last year, when the women's soccer team made a miraculous run to the NCAA championship game, was one. In 1998, the football team started 4-0 and created a buzz going into its Homecoming game with undefeated Williams. And two years ago, the men's basketball team won the ECAC Championship.
Unfortunately, that championship game was at Colby, and as excited as people were for the team, less than ten students made the three-hour drive to watch the game. Could the athletics department have done a better job of getting students up to that game? Yes.
It should have sent a fan bus up to Colby. It didn't, and as it was, I was one of the few Tufts students to witness a championship being won.
This year's football team is 4-0, and, like in 1998, plays 4-0 Williams on Saturday. Only this time, the game is at Williams. And now, this is a perfect time for atonement. Members of the football team have already requested that a fan bus be sent to Williams. Though it will cost around $1,000, this is exactly what the athletics department, with the go-ahead from the administration, should do.
With a fan bus to Williams, Tufts can do what it should have done two years ago for the basketball team.
