Jaredis a Political Science juniorSend comments to: knick914@aol.com
In Southern California, sports are not what they used to be. LosAngeles does not have a football team. The Dodgers and Angels spenthundreds of millions of dollars last season trying to buy achampionship, yet neither team sold out on opening day.
Last month at San Diego State University, the athletics departmentwas thrilled that more than 40,000 people attended the SDSU-BYU game,but it didn’t seem bothered that there was almost as much BYU blue inthe stands as Aztec red black.
Is there such a thing as a true sports fan?
Yes, there is.
There is such a person. Let’s call him Ross. Ross is your normalCalifornia teen-ager, who, like many young men, loves football. Eversince he was 5 years old, he knew the ins and outs of the NationalFootball League, but unlike most youth, he was not a fan of theRaiders or the Cowboys. He was a fan of the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints are a symbol in the NFL for futility. They have hadonly two winning seasons in the last 20 years. For any fan, thismight be discouraging, but not for Ross. Nothing discourages Ross.
The drama begins for this fanatic during the summer.
Every August, Ross phones the “Black and Gold” catalog stationedin New Orleans, La., to order a new Saints’ jersey (always adifferent player, because most players don’t stick around for a verylong time). Every time he phones and gives the salesperson hisaddress, Ross receives the same response.
“You live in California,” the saleswoman says. “I didn’t knowthere were Saints fans in California.”
This year, Ross thought it would be different for the Saints.
After going 6-10 year after year, since the early 1990s, hethought the addition of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams wouldmake the difference.
It didn’t.
After an opening-day win, the Saints have lost 10 of their 11games, including this past weekend’s debacle in Atlanta. Ross’sroutine before each game doesn’t change. The positive thinking ritualbegins early in the week, but really heats up on Saturday.
“They’re going to win this week,” Ross would tell everyone. “Rickyis going to light it up this weekend, you’ll see.”
Ross receives weekly calls from family members trying to convincehim to change teams. He always responds the same way.
“I’ll never switch teams,” he says. “Someday they will win, andeveryone will be jumping on the bandwagon, but I will have been therefirst.”
In the meantime, the Saints continue to lose. Every Sundaymorning, Ross wakes up, reads the morning predictions in the paper(which always say they will lose), and watches “NFL Countdown” onESPN to get the late-breaking news before the game. He then goes tohis neighborhood sports bar, adorned in his Ricky Williams’ jersey towatch the Saints game, because who knows when the last time theSaints were on national television.
He takes his usual seat and watches the Saints game, screaming atthe television when something bad happens (his voice is usually goneby the end of each game), and claps when something good happens (hishands rarely hurt after the game, though).
Assuming the Saints lose, which is a pretty fair assumption,something then ensues, which is strange even for a diehard fan. Rossgoes into “Saints Rage,” a state of mind in which everyone around himknows not to talk to him for a period of time after a loss. This timeperiod varies according to the severity of the loss.
Whatever the time period is, this state of mind is incredible towatch. One can see the nature of the true fan inside Ross. A true fanwho will never give up on his team. A true fan who changes the way heacts based on how his team does. A true fan who will be there for histeam until the ultimate victory.
I didn’t think there were any left.
There certainly aren’t any at SDSU.
SDSU is located in the heart of San Diego. It has 30,000 students,all with their own spirit. Why is it then, that with all thesestudents and the millions of San Diego residents who say they areAztecs fans at heart, that SDSU cannot bring more of their own fansto a home game than the visitors, let alone fill the stadium tocapacity?
It’s a sense of apathy within the student body. No one seems tocare about the team, and this apathy carries over to the faculty andover to the athletic department.
When SDSU brings in new recruits, what can they offer them? Niceweather? Maybe.
But certainly not playing in front of 70,000 screaming fans.
SDSU needs people like Ross on campus. It needs someone like Rossto get the juices flowing, to get people excited about their athleticprogram. If Ross can still be a Saints fan after all these years ofhopelessness, then Aztecs fans should easily remain loyal throughouta four-year stay at school.
The basketball season is upon us, and after years of futilitywithin the Western Athletic Conference, the program is on its way up.We are lucky enough to have a high-profile head coach in Mike Ditka,who is trying to drastically improve this program so it can competewith such conference powerhouses as Utah and New Mexico.
To do this though, fan support is imperative. I’m not asking forevery student to go to every game – that would be ludicrous.But if you have any interest in sports or any interest in our school,then pick up a schedule in the campus store.
Go to one game – that’s all I ask.
You just might discover that same passion in you that thrivesinside Ross.
