Nick Hartley

A disturbing trend has come to my, as well as other Jackrabbit fans’, attention recently. Frost Arena, known for its intimidating environment, has become lackluster. We understand things are not like they were in the past, but this is a new era for SDSU and its athletic programs.

Our student section is poor, to say it nicely. These games are not funerals, and this isn’t a music recital-what happened to school pride? No one even wants to run for SA president and vice president. The students at basketball games seem to only care to stand up and cheer when they have a chance to get a T-shirt from the cheerleaders. The fans cannot get on the same page with cheers the cheerleaders use, and in most cases, the cheers are lame or don’t make sense with what is going on during the game.

Gone are the days when the student section was packed 30 minutes before game time. Now it seems like the cool thing to do is arrive late. Long gone is the home court advantage Frost has been known for. In past games against teams like Fort Hayes State, Northern State and Metro State, the student section would be packed 15 minutes after the doors open. Now, space in the student section is available halfway through the game; even students don’t want to sit in the student section and cheer.

In the past, students would make noise-lots of noise-giving headaches to those in attendance. These days, the noise level in Frost on most nights is about as loud as a bingo hall. We need to make noise during our opponents’ free throws, when we are making a comeback or are stealing the lead in a game. Students need to step up and make Frost a place to be feared.

Members of Jacks FanAddicts especially need to step up and be leaders in the student section. You wear the yellow shirt to stand out among the students, but sitting on your butt does not make you noticeable. Jacks FanAddicts will not be around much longer if the current trend does not change. In South Dakota, we should be the leading student section because we are the flagship university of South Dakota and the only Division-I school in the state. We pride ourselves on being Division I, now let’s get some Division-I fans.