Little 500 not all about riders

After reading Matt Csanyi's article on Little 500 ("Little 500: The stupidist IU tradition," March 28) and hearing a lot of negative response, I feel someone has to come to his side. I will not defend everything he says -- for a lot of people the race is meaningful and important -- but let's remember the fans. Having ridden in two races and watched three (including two women's races), I cannot help but feel disgusted at the behavior of many IU students watching from the stands. The first three races I attended, I saw students who were so drunk they could not stand on their own or speak. Then, in the bathroom, I heard multiple students vomiting and watched how other drunk students had to help these students stand. Then there are my parents. They have attended the two races in which I have ridden, once with their two year-old grandson. A group of drunk fans -- from a team that will remain nameless -- knocked over my two-year-old nephew and did not stop to help him up. They kept walking. Not to mention the numerous profane words that were yelled with my parents sitting just feet away. \nI think what the article was trying to say, and being a rider myself I picked up on this, is that the race does not mean as much as it used to for a lot of people. There used to be as many as 50 teams vying for the 33 spots, this year's 38 teams was the largest number of teams signed up in a long time. Even the 50th anniversary of the race could barely get more than 33 teams. And to the person who suggested most people are looking forward to Little 500, I think you are a little misguided. Most students are waiting for Little 500 weekend because of the frat parties that aren't supposed to happen and the opportunity to drink mass amounts of alcohol. If you talk to a lot of students, they will tell you they like the women's race better because it isn't so long. \nIf Little 500 is as great a tradition as people seem to think it is, how come there aren't 50 teams doing qualifications? How come so many of the fans have to be wasted to watch the race? If I were watching history in the making, I would want to be sober and take in every moment, but I think most students just want an excuse to drink. Why else would they have to step up the police presence that weekend?