Restore order for real IU basketball fans

It’s almost pathetic how much of a sports fan I am. It really is. I could quote an ungodly amount of statistics from the unlimited database of players that resides between my ears.

But I’m not the only one.

There are other fans like me. There’s a ton of them, actually. So I do take solace in knowing I’m not alone.

I, like many others on this campus, ride and die with IU athletics. I celebrate their wins with binge drinking, and I drown my sorrows when they lose.

Look — all fans want their teams to succeed, no matter how much they care. All fans want to witness greatness. We all want to hoist another banner and celebrate accordingly.

There is a difference between diehard fans and your regular, nonchalant fans.

Diehard fans stick by their teams through the good and the bad. Diehard fans appreciate this team as it’s currently assembled because we’ve watched Bobby Capobianco and Devan Dumes play basketball.

The split between diehard and casual fans was never more apparent than at the Indiana vs. Michigan basketball game.

A roommate of mine and I each dished out $130 to sit in the second row of the balcony. Michigan was one of the six games we did not get tickets to. The demand to be in Assembly Hall now far exceeds the supply of seats.

I guess you could say we needed our fix of IU athletics. We needed the opportunity to witness guard Victor Oladipo cock back and throw down a stank-nasty dunk in the face of the Wolverines.

I would have loved the opportunity to experience that game with all of my roommates, but the market for tickets decided otherwise. We simply could not find a reasonable price for five tickets.

As the game started, I couldn’t help but notice the empty row in front of me. After a couple minutes of clock ran off, the pack of freshmen finally showed up. This group of eight or so girls was blessed to have been given the seats they had.

Front row balcony seats for the No. 1 vs. No. 3 teams in the nation? If that’s not a godsend, then I don’t know what is.


How did this group of girls spend their time at the game?

Well, besides cheering on “Jeremy Hulls,” they posted pictures on Instagram for most of the first half. They texted, chatted and flirted with Michigan fans.

They did everything short of actually paying attention to the game at hand.

Let’s be clear — I’m not hating on fans who don’t care as much as I do. I’m a little jealous, to be honest. These fans have the same right to be at the game as diehard fans do.  

But it has become abundantly clear that IU needs to do something for its diehard sports fans.

Now that Indiana basketball is back, a system can and should be set up to benefit the real fans.

Maybe a point system could be created for IU fans who support other parts of IU like our football, wrestling and soccer teams. Maybe those who travel with the teams to watch away games would accrue more points.  

Heck, you could even keep a tally of how many basketball games each student attends. Isn’t that why we have scannable IDs?

Such a system would also give seniors some seniority, which is only natural and fair.

I’m just asking for some justice.

­— awcohn@indiana.edu