By Various
The Heart: Students By: Gavin LaPaille
With empty seats surrounding him, freshman mechanical engineering major Scott Beard doesn’t get discouraged. Sporting his red, white and black face paint and crown on his head, Beard is just getting ready for another University of Louisville men’s basketball game.
Beard is a rarity at U of L games however. While most students may still be in their dorms or making their way into Freedom Hall’s parking lot, Beard is in the stands a solid half hour before the start of the highly anticipated match-up with Marquette University.
“I want to see my players play and get ready for the atmosphere,” Beard said.
Student spirit at U of L has become a big issue in the last few years. While students at Duke University or Ohio State University can be seen – and heard – making a difference in their team’s games, student spirit at U of L sometimes comes into question.
Beard, a member of the L-Raisers, said that student spirit is “alright” but could definitely be improved. The major problem he sees is the location of the student seating.
“They put us all in the top of the balcony and only a select few down near the court,” Beard said. “All we have is the older fans who sit down all game and the students upstairs that can’t get down here and cheer for their team.”
Student seating is a popular complaint from students inside Freedom Hall. While those of Duke and other major programs are found lined up on the sidelines, U of L students can be overlooked in the back end zone, far away from the action.
“I blame the athletics department for low school spirit,” junior political science major Andrew Murphy said. “Instead of placing athletes in the front rows at basketball games, athletics could build spirit by reserving a section for students who paint up. Or, maybe students could wear suits and dresses to games and name themselves Pitino’s mafia.”
Also sitting among the U of L students is the non-college age generation that normally get a bad reputation of not being as spirited as the rest of the crowd. Harry Bloom, an older night school student who is taking one course this semester, said sometimes he gets weird looks from the rest of his fellow students.
Dwight Williams, an alumni at U of L, got his Marquette ticket in the student section from someone who he said looked like a student. Williams said he has sat in the student section before but hasn’t noticed anyone looking at him strangely.
“I really didn’t notice because I’m concentrating on the game,” Williams said. “I’m not that aware if people are looking at me.”
Student Government Association Co-Director of Athletic Affairs Ryan Nebel said school spirit is normally lacking but had improved on the night of the Marquette game.
“Seats are filled and that is a first priority for us,” Nebel said about students at the game. “We need a little more spirit than just the L-Raisers.”
Many students had differing opinions of the L-Raisers, the official U of L spirit club. The group is sometimes criticized by other students for not being as spirited as they should be. Nebel said the L-Raisers biggest problem is communication gaps, and that the university could possibly be better served by having an organization that was more inclusive.
“First of all we can start out by establishing a better organization possibly that is more dedicated as opposed to just doing it for the better tickets,” Nebel said about ways to improve student spirit.
Sophomore sports administration major Mike Paoloni, a member of the L-Raisers, said not all of the blame for lack of school spirit can be placed on the group.
“People were telling us to sit down and I just feel that is not the way to support your team,” Paoloni said. “Showing up is great. but cheering is what gets your team going.”
Junior business major Dallies Wrenn said school spirit sometimes lacks because of how students act at the games.
“Even though turnout is good for most of the football and basketball games, students often come drunk and leave early,” Wrenn said. “They are more concerned with the game as a social event than with supporting the team.”
Senior sociology major Amanda James said that U of L definitely has some dedicated fans, but sees a problem with how students are acting long before the opening tip-off.
“On game days, even for huge games, I walk around campus and have class and people aren’t even wearing U of L stuff,” James said. “Simple stuff like that would be an improvement.”
“Student spirit not only has the ability to affect athletics, but it can also reflect on the university as a whole, and I would hope most people would have pride and spirit for their school,” said James.
For Beard, nothing anyone else does around him really matters much in the end. He said he would like to have a huge student section that joined him early on in the game, and for the U of L student section to become a force for opposing teams
“Students just have to get up and cheer for their team all game,” Beard said. “[They should] just stay here until the buzzer and cheer their team on till the last minute.”
The Brain:Athletic DEPT. By Trevor Joelson
Student Government Association President Brian Hoffman highlights athletic events as the times when the largest amount of students come together.
“Athletics is one of the biggest players in creating a campus culture among students,” said Hoffman a senior political science and economics major, who encouraged the athletic department to work closely with the students to incite spirit.
The issue remains on how many students make it out to the games.
The athletic department has had talks about cutting student tickets particularly to basketball games if students continue to not show up. With an impending expansion to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium and the development of a new downtown arena to open in 2010 for use by the University of Louisville basketball teams, the students are under a watchful eye.
“People that are involved in the new arena are watching our games,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director Kevin Miller, who added that they would love to get as many students as close to the floor as possible, but they “know for the last couple years the students haven’t been showing up.”
Miller, who has worked at U of L for 32 years and regularly travels with the team, notes Villanova University as one of the top basketball student sections he has seen. Wildcat fans have approximately 750 seats behind each basket and many times wear matching t-shirts.
According to Miller, student seating behind both baskets is not completely out of the realm of possibility for the new downtown arena, however, there are many prominent donors and supporters of Cardinal Athletics that would be displaced.
Last year U of L Head Coach Rick Pitino reportedly declared Villanova as the most hostile environment he has ever faced. Pitino has been impressed with the recent increase in fan support at Freedom Hall.
“Some of the other games I brought some friends and they would be standing up and people would yell at them to sit down,” said Pitino after the Marquette game. “Tonight there was none of that. It was a strong home court advantage.”
Former Courier-Journal columnist and current ESPN writer Pat Forde has traveled the country covering college basketball games. He feels U of L’s student section does well, but can’t be considered one of the more prominent in the country. He notes that they could use more organization, such as signs and cheers, and more prominent seats, closer to the floor and opposing bench, to enhance the atmosphere.
“It can definitely have an affect,” said Forde about having students seated close to the court. “The louder you can get the lower arena anywhere, the more you can rattle the other team.”
Associate Athletic Director for National Marketing Kyle Moats agrees with Forde’s belief that the student fans could be more organized.
“I would like to see a stronger participatory athletic support student group,” said Moats.
Basketball games are not the only athletic events where student spirit can be seen. Thousands of students pile into PJCS each season to support the Cards. Student seating is located across the second level, with the majority at midfield. The Big East Conference has a rule keeping students from getting too close to the benches.
“Student tickets, for both teams, can not be located within the first 20 rows behind the opposing teams’ benches between the 25-yard lines,” said Chuck Sullivan director of communications for the Big East Conference.
Miller said that the athletic department hasn’t fully discussed student seating changes with the football expansion, he believes that it may open up room for further student seating, as well as movement of the marching band and visitor seats.
According to Miller, student seating was affected by the banning of “festival seating,” which led to the death of 11 fans who were fighting for seats at a concert by “The Who” in Cincinnati in 1979. Now, students must have a ticket for a specific seat, rather than general admission seating.
This policy is enforced on U of L, because Freedom Hall is owned by the state, as compared to Lexington’s Rupp Arena which is owned by the city. This mandate prevents Louisville athletics from allowing students to have general admission seating, a plea made by many.
Moats said the athletic department is open to suggestions from the students and is willing to work with them on creative initiatives. In particular he would like to harness student support for non revenue sports.
“We have great participation at basketball and football,” said Moats. “We would like to be able to carry that over to all sports.”
From the SGA President, to the media to the athletic department, all parties note the importance of student spirit towards athletics at U of L.
The athletic department has a unique view.
“The students here are going to be wanting those court side seats in the future,” said Miller. “We have to take care of the students, because the students are our future.”
The BACKBONE: Athletes By Ashley Parsons
From the weight room to the classroom to the court, it’s tough for University of Louisville athletes to find time to support one another.
To reward the athletes who find the time to do this, U of L has created Champs/Life Skills program known as L-Care. This program focuses on teaching life skills to the student-athletes and creating a well-rounded experience for them while they are in school.
L-Care created the Cardinal Cup as an incentive to increase U of L athletes’ participation in the community and their support for one another. The student-athletes earn points for attending different events. The team with the most points in the end win the cup.
“To ensure fairness we also award points based on the percentage of the team that attends an event,” Assistant Director of L-Care and Championships Amy Seng said. “Since golf has only 6-10 members it is not fair to have them directly compete with field hockey who has 25-30 on the roster. So if teams get 80% of their teams to events, they get additional points.”
Most U of L athletes enjoy the involvement that L-Care presents. Men’s basketball point guard Andre McGee said most of the more than 700 student athletes routinely support each other.
“Anytime we can catch each other, when we don’t have practice or anything, we try to get out there to support all the student athletes,” McGee said.
While L-Care assures athletes feel supported by one another, it’s also important the athletes feel support from the students.
Anywhere from body paint to elaborate costumes, the students are sure to attract the athlete’s attention. Senior forward Juan Palacios said he definitely noticed the students in the stands against Marquette University Thursday.
“They’re funny,” Palacios said about the students. “I saw someone had pained their body and jumping up and down. It felt really good.”
Junior forward Terrence Williams said the crowd can affect the outcome of the game.
“When you have the fans behind you, you tend to play harder,” Williams said. “You tend to dig in. When the crowd gets louder you have to dig in and get louder.”
Women’s basketball junior forward Angel McCoughtry is confident students will support the team in the future.
“I think once we get on a winning streak and with our top recruiting class, students will start going,” McCoughtry said. “Once we get on UCONN’s level, they’ll be here, and we will get on that level.”
Sophomore guard Edgar Sosa mentioned there has been an improvement among the students in the stands.
“We’ve been kind of complaining last year and at the beginning of the year that our student section wasn’t as good as other schools,” Sosa said who noted University of Kentucky’s student section as the most difficult to play against.
Men’s soccer senior mid-fielder Nate Gerstle thinks improvements can be made. Gerstle believe one of the biggest issues is not all U of L students are Cardinal fans.
“The perplexing and sometimes frustrating reality is that some students at U of L actually support other schools is tough to swallow as a student-athlete,” Gerstle said.
“You won’t hear any complaining from me though. My entire career all I saw was nothing but a supportive and extremely interested fan-base.”
Despite the downfalls, the spirit of the students is undeniable.
“Keep standing, keep being loud, just keep doing what students do,” men’s senior center David Padgett said.
The APPENDAGES: Other Schools By: Catherine LaRoche
Despite sitting in the second to last row in section 318, sophomore communications student Ashley Young enjoyed watching the University of Louisville men’s basketball team beat Marquette University last Thursday.
Cardinal fans may be surprised at the differences between U of L and other schools across the country when it comes to student seating at games, student school spirit and ticket distribution.
If Young was attending the University of South Florida, Rutgers University or University of Kentucky basketball games as a student, chances are she would be watching from the lower level of the arena.
At Rutgers, students occupy one entire side on the baseline with a total of about 1,250 seats. USF students are located on the first level directly behind press row.
UK students can be found cheering on the Wildcats from the “eRUPPtion zone” which is located behind one of the baskets and on the lower and upper level sideline behind the UK bench.
At Georgetown University students are sat behind both baskets in the lower level and the overflow of students are sat in upper level seating.
West Virginia University believes that all students should be in the same area of the arena; therefore, students get an entire upper and lower side of the arena. However, at WVU, it’s difficult to fill the sections with Mountaineer students in support of the basketball program.
Some students disagree with the allotment of seats set aside for the students.
“This is probably too much seating for the students, in my opinion,” junior Tony Dobies, Sports Editor for the West Virginia student newspaper The Daily Athenaeum, said. “I was in favor of cutting the student seating in favor of more true fans coming to the game.”
University of North Carolina has a top five team, but their students don’t necessarily get the best seats.
Approximately, 1,000 UNC students are located on the lower levels of the arena either behind one of the baskets or behind the visitor’s bench. The other 5,000 students are seated in the upper level together.
Young believes if students aren’t going to all fit into lower level sections, they should at least be seated together.
“That’s why these schools have great student school spirit,” Young said. “I think it’s a money factor. Students aren’t put first. If there weren’t any students, there wouldn’t be a university.”
Some students may wonder exactly what ticket distribution is like at these schools.
WVU and USF students receive tickets on a “first come, first serve” basis. Both schools offer free tickets, so students only need a student ID on game day.
At Georgetown, students may purchase season tickets for $100 or individual game tickets for $10. However, purchasing season tickets doesn’t assign students a particular seat. The seating arrangement is “first come, first serve”. Students who purchase tickets on a game-to-game basis aren’t eligible for lower level seating.
Scarlet Knight fans have the opportunity to purchase season tickets for $40. Otherwise, students may participate in any of the six distribution days, which students can pick up free tickets for two to five different games.
More prestigious programs have their students go through a lottery.
Students at UK must show up for a lottery that occurs about once every three weeks. Each lottery contains four games. Students get a section number and wait in Memorial Coliseum until their section number is randomly called.
Tar Heel students go through a similar process, except their lottery is done online and seating is based on a “first-come, first serve” basis. If students get a ticket, the ticket indicates when they are allowed into the game to be seated. Student tickets are free with a valid student ID.
Most schools that hand out free student tickets charge every undergraduate student an athletic fee on top of their tuition, regardless of whether they attend games.
Although most students attend the games to support the home team, some fans go for the entertainment. Most of the schools do giveaways, such as pom-poms and t-shirts. Other schools come up with a more creative way to entertain fans.
UK gets fans involved by putting on “Big Blue U,” which is a pep rally with head coaches serving as speakers. Georgetown gave out free food and had music and games at their “Midnight Madness”. Every Rutgers student is entitled to a free t-shirt for game days.
At smaller sporting events, Mountaineer fans get the opportunity to enjoy select food for only one dollar on “$1 Days.”
Some schools don’t need much assistance in building school spirit.
“With a program like UK’s, especially the basketball program, people are already excited about the games and have plenty of school spirit,” said Sports Editor of The Kentucky Kernel, Eric Lindsey. “When it comes to the football or basketball team, regardless of how good or bad they are, students will always show up to games and be pumped for their team because of the history and success of the programs.”
Just like the L-Raisers at U of L, most schools have a student spirit organization dedicated to their athletics programs. At Georgetown, the “Hoya Blue” has approximately 2,500 members, while WVU has the “Mountaineer Maniacs” to support their teams. UK has the Student Athletic Committee, which contains about 300 members, while USF brings in 125 members as “Beef Studs/Babes”.
“The team sells itself,” senior “Hoya Blue” President Raymond Borgone said. “There is a lot of school spirit when it comes to our basketball team, so not a lot is needed to get people excited or proud about that.”
