From the cheap seats

Did you pick up a copy of last week’s Colonnade? That’s okay, I’ll wait while you get one.

Go to last page. Go ahead. Are you there yet?

All of these pictures were taken at Bobcat Madness. They are all excellent pictures taken by the Colonnade’s own Kim Willman. Look closely at the pictures. Do you see the seats?

I know that Georgia College & State University is a liberal arts college, but that’s no reason why we can’t have at least a decent crowd for basketball and baseball games or even tennis matches.

I would like to see basketball games turned into an event. Do you ever watch the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech on television?

Even when these teams are not ranked, they draw a big, excited crowd. The crowds get up for the games. When Georgia plays Auburn University or Florida University; or when Tech plays the University of North Carolina or Duke, the crowd’s excitement is overwhelming. For the athletes, I imagine that there is no greater thrill than having a packed arena going nuts.

When was the last time the Bobcats played Clayton State University or Kennesaw State University in front of a huge crowd at the Centennial Center?

The last two years that I’ve been at GC&SU there’s always been talk about how we should have a football team. A football team? A football team for a ‘suitcase college?’ Let’s get real here. It’s true that the revenue would be tremendous for a varsity football program, but think about the expenses.

First, the college would have to find and pay a coaching staff and trainers. That could range from 10 to 15 people. It’s not like high school where the economics teacher is also your head football coach.

Second, GC&SU would have to find a location to build a stadium and then hire employees to operate and maintain it. There is also a price on building a stadium too. Third, the money is not going to come from some anonymous beneficiary, but instead it will come from higher tuition cost and more fees.

Fourth, there aren’t any football teams in our nearby conferences or divisions. The team would have to travel out of state for every away game. This once again would cost more money.

Finally, there isn’t enough support for the varsity programs that we already have. After the first couple of football games or even after the first losing season, the crowd would gradually get thinner and thinner.

To have a successful football program, it would have to been started when GC&SU (or actually Georgia College) was started. Since the original Georgia College was an all girl school, I don’t think football was a concern, although it would have been most interesting for them to field a team.

We haven’t had a football team from the beginning, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get one anytime soon. We do, however, have a baseball team, a softball team, a tennis team, and not one, but two basketball teams.

I don’t ever want to hear anyone say that there isn’t anything to do on this campus. Before heading downtown on a weeknight, go to a basketball game first, or when you find yourself with no afternoon classes in the spring, go to a tennis match or baseball/softball game.

The teams appreciate any and all support you give them.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 25 2002. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry