During last Saturday’s Fordham-Butler matchup in the Rose Hill Gym, I sat courtside calling color commentary for the WFUV broadcast. The gym was so loud that I could barely hear myself speak. The student section was raucous, shaking the whole arena while still staying respectful. At the end of the game, the No. 11 team in the country squeaked by with a five-point victory. Fordham players and coaches applauded the crowd after the game, saying that it was a huge advantage for them. That is what the Rose Hill Gym should always be. With all that in mind, I want to use this article to address the Fordham student body.
As a senior, I’ve experienced three and a half years of Fordham students ripping on our athletics. “Our sports teams are so bad.” “We’ll always be terrible.” “Typical Fordham.” I firmly believe that this attitude is one of the biggest problems with our school. And that argument isn’t even true. Our women’s basketball team is having a historic year, and our softball team has received votes for the nation’s top 25 (they also beat last year’s national champion Alabama in a game at home). On top of all that, our football program had one of the best turnarounds in the entire country.
Take the Butler game this year and the St. John’s game from two years ago as prime examples of what a good crowd does. In the St. John’s game, we were clearly the less talented team, but the amazing crowd spurred Fordham on to not one but two 16-0 runs in the second half to knock off the Johnnies. Even though the Rams couldn’t take down the Bulldogs, they nearly pulled out an unbelievable upset.
If people would go to more games, our teams would win more games; it’s as simple as that. So for all the people who want to complain about the Rose Hill Gym being small and outdated, my response is that if we packed the gym every game, it would be one of the most unique and intimidating game environments in the country. For the last two seasons, I’ve traveled with the women’s and men’s basketball teams calling the games for WFUV. I’ve seen all kinds of arenas, both big and small. I’ve seen what an amazing student section can do to a visiting team. Having a smaller arena makes our student section seem louder, which literally shakes the whole building. There’s no reason that we couldn’t have the A-10’s version of Duke’s Cameron Crazies. According to our official website, Fordham has close to 3,400 students living on campus. It only takes one or two hundred people to give our teams an edge.
Most of our women’s and men’s basketball games are on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I know what Fordham students are typically doing at these times. They’re sitting in bed, shoving bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches in their mouths, possibly both. I’m calling out the Fordham students. If you’re going to complain about how bad our sports teams are, but never take the five-minute walk to go see a game, then you’re the problem, buster. Go support our teams. More people at games translates to more wins. Stop being lazy.
