Wanted:Cheering fans

Well, we're now just one day away from kickoff, and the buzz surrounding the football team is, well, just that -- a buzz. \nAnd that's understandable. I mean, how can you get excited about a team that won just two games last season? To be honest, it's hard, but it is possible. I, for one, am anxious to see if Matt LoVecchio can return to form. I'm anxious to see if BenJarvus Green-Ellis can establish himself among the elite tailbacks of the country, and I'm anxious to see if the defense can finally hold opponents under 30 points a game. But I'm not here to try and get you excited about the team because I know that is nearly an impossible task. I'm just here to convince you to attend at least one IU game this season.\nThe Hoosiers won just one Big Ten game last year, and only 24,000 people were there to see it. If 24,000 fans sounds like a lot, then consider the fact that Ohio State regularly draws 104,000 for each game, while Michigan usually draws close to 110,000. But wait -- it gets worse. Last season, IU set an attendance record in the Northwestern game -- for lowest attendance ever at a homecoming game. \nLet's get something straight here. I'm not asking you to go to every game or be like the fans in Columbus, Ohio, or Ann Arbor, Mich. But for those of you who play sports, you know that having fan support and a cheering crowd on your side is an incredible feeling. The adrenaline rush you get when you play in front of a raucous crowd is like no other experience. The IU football team, however, doesn't know this feeling. The only time the team has seen a sold-out stadium was each time Ohio State came to Bloomington with 50,000 fans in tow.\nEvery time people talk about the football team, they wonder if the team will ever be good. Well, as I stated in my column earlier this week, I believe it can be pretty good this season, but there's one component not yet in place. The team needs support. It need fans in the stands. And you owe it to yourself to go see a game because you never know what, or who, you might see. Here's an example. \nWhen I was a freshman, I went to the game against North Carolina State. IU had a pretty good team that year, and at the time, NC State was pretty much unheard of. They were starting a lanky freshman quarterback who threw the football like it was a shot-put. This lanky freshman with the odd throwing motion was none other than Philip Rivers, currently a quarterback for the San Diego Chargers. So to me, IU had already won the game before it started. But I sat through the game and watched in amazement as Rivers picked apart the Hoosier defense and lead the Wolfpack to victory.\nThe Hoosiers stand an outside chance to be a decent team this season, and having fans in the stands would help significantly. I know first hand the 11 a.m. kickoffs cut severely into your plans of nursing Friday night's hangover, but everybody deserves to see the football team in action, even if it's just one time.