Basketball fans should take advantage of opportunity
COMMENTARY
Janelle Stecklein

With the TCU football season coming to a close, you might be wondering what is next for TCU sport-wise, and the question nags at you: What am I going to do with the time I am not spending watching football on my Saturday afternoons?

The answer is simple: Come watch the men’s and women’s basketball team and cheer them on to victory.

I’ve heard in the past that students have not been very good at showing their spirit basketball games in the past few years.

The men’s basketball coach Neil Dougherty is looking to change that and I fully support him in that quest.

We, the TCU student body, faculty and staff, need to make TCU known as a credible institution for basketball. TCU should, with its enthusiastic student, faculty and staff, be able to compete and be known as a basketball “fan” powerhouse with the best of the nationally known basketball schools like Duke, University of Kentucky, Maryland and Kansas. When the games are shown on TV, viewers are able to see the massive support for those basketball teams.

This year, several of TCU’s games will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN-Plus, ESPN2 and KFWD-52. TCU should be able to fill the stands and show support for the men and women who represent our school.

When ESPN broadcasted football this fall, we filled the stands and made a lot of noise and showed support for our awesome football team. We need to do that for the basketball team.

When coach Dougherty came to speak to a group of women from my residence hall, he told the story of how he would have to climb over people waiting in line just to be able to get into his office at his last school.

TCU needs to be like that, but without having to camp out and wait in long lines to get tickets to the games.

Luckily, we don’t need to worry about that. For those of you that don’t know, TCU offers free tickets to students that just present their student IDs.

At the Duke vs. North Carolina college basketball game, one ticket to the game goes for $1,235, according to (www.justgreattickets.com). This one seat is in Sec: 15, Row: N, which is located in the “nosebleed section” of the stadium, or in the upper-deck. The same ticket, against the Virginia Cavaliers go for $585 dollars a seat. That is still a pretty hefty price to pay for one ticket.

TCU students have an advantage over these students from other colleges because we get the opportunity to attend the games for free.

Also, this year, thanks to a House of Student Representatives resolution that was recently passed, we can even sit court-side for free, on a first-come, first-serve basis. We get the advantage that many students dream about.

How many die hard basketball fans haven’t wanted to sit on the first row of the stands, cheer and intimidate the other team for free?

The first season-opener for the women’s team is against Utah at 5:15 p.m. Friday.

The next “big” men’s game is Texas Tech. Those students that have tickets need to show all the support they can.

TCU students, faculty and staff need to show support for the men’s and women’s basketball team and pack the stadium, especially for the Texas Tech game so we can send Texas Tech and Bobby Knight home, just like we did to Southern Miss during football season.

All I have to say to Texas Tech is “hit the road Jack” because TCU and the fans will “rock you.”

Copy editor Janelle Stecklein is a freshman journalism and political science major from Plano.