It is no secret that most people love a good UMass tailgate. We mark them on our calendars, wait for weeks, prepare our outfits and secure our plans, all for an event that precedes a football game that we most likely won’t step foot into.
For those of you who like myself are seniors, it is not difficult to remember the tailgates of freshman year. Hundreds of us students, gathered in the field celebrating the game to come while showing as much UMass pride as could fit on our (then much smaller) bodies. Looking back they are some of my most valued memories of college. Almost just as prominent in our memory banks are the two falls we spent without home tailgates and the difference of the dynamic that was caused when our “home” games were 90 minutes away. Speaking for most, as a student body we love the camaraderie of a game day. But what’s unique about a UMass game day is that most of our excitement stems very little from who we are playing in the football game. Why is it that we wake up early, gather with friends, deck out in our UMass gear just as passionately as any other big time school, yet we can’t get students in the game.
The difference between a game day at UMass for most of us and a game day elsewhere occurs just about fifteen minutes before the game is scheduled to start. Most of us have been celebrating for about five hours at this point, excited beyond belief and enjoying time with both friends and family. Why is it that we lose sight of why we are celebrating and these events are treated just like any other day drink that would take place at various points around campus. When the horses come and the police appear to issue us to disperse we do so immediately, just in the opposite direction of McGuirk. We all take different paths to friends, home, to bed, the bar or another one of our favorite spots to eat after we’ve had a few. The question I have is why the two pieces are such a disconnect for most. Why aren’t we equally as excited to head into the game as we are to prepare for it? I think it is a valuable question, and one in which UMass as a large, competitive public university needs to address.
You don’t have to spend a mere few hours on the Massachusetts flag ship campus to hear someone talking negatively about the football team. As we all know, the program is in rebuild, a necessary part of any team who has recently entered a new division. The lack of desire to walk into the game, comes from the lack of confidence we have in our Minutemen. The football team at this point in time is not expected to win, and they have proved that hypothesis to be true time and time again. Yet, how do we expect them to do well, if they don’t have any passion, support or any sort of positive vibes from their peers in the stadium at all? Why is is that our students and staff expect the success of a Division 1 program, but don’t expect to be a valuable agent in the process?
The problem as I see it is simple, though the solution may be a tad more difficult. UMass students love everything about tailgates; the food, the drinking, the friends, the family and the overall support for our great university. What they don’t love is watching a football game for three hours, under the assumption that they know the outcome before they even walk into the stadium. So instead of the football game being the main event the tailgate takes priority. The focus along with all of the positive energy that should be filling McGuirk is left in the parking lot. How should the football team do well without the support and positive vibes that a full student section for the entire game bring? But, how should the students be motivated to attend the games if they are already certain we are going to lose?
This is a never ending argument, a two sided sword to say the least. My small observations will do very little to change the outcome, but I think as students who support the school and value the importance of athletics its important to think about. For how ever many years you have left in this amazing place, reconsider heading out of the parking lot and head into the game. A little support can do a lot for confidence, and most athletes perform better surrounded by a stadium full of positive energy. So lets try to give these athletes the benefit of the doubt and give them the environment they deserve. If we have so much fun preparing for the game in the parking lot, imagine the possibilities if we could all swarm into the stadium and finish out the day with the win! Something to think about Collegiettes. Go UMass!