TheSkiffView
Finally
Put students courtside

When TCUÕs new basketball season opens, fans may see something unexpected on the floor: students.

If new menÕs basketball coach Neil Dougherty has his way, students will now occupy the floor seats that normally went to high-dollar donors. And theyÕll sit there for free.

ItÕs a psychological thing. DoughertyÕs theory is that students on the floor will create an atmosphere of fun and function to intimidate the opposing team. Students on the floor, he said, will finally give the Frogs a home-court advantage.

DoughertyÕs proposal is long overdue. Students lend a level of excitement and immediacy to the crowd that donors usually donÕt.

TCU fans, led by those up-front students, will get into the game. And as people get into the game, more people will attend. And when more people start attending, the team will get more national attention and play more attention-worthy teams.

So a memo to the athletics department: Put us on the floor.

WeÕll be loud, weÕll be fun, weÕll be exciting. ItÕll be a party. Sure, youÕll lose the money people would have paid for those seats, but itÕs pretty likely more people will start coming to the games, and theyÕll bring more money with them.

And a memo to those high-dollar donors: Sorry weÕre taking your seats.

We still want you at the games, but let us (finally) take ownership of our team. WeÕll show you how to turn an athletic event into a party, and how to intimidate an opposing team.

Coach Dougherty, a final memo to you: Seat us, and weÕll show up.

Now give us something to watch.