Those of you who followed along in the Charlotte game thread probably remember that name. Mr. Manning left us a thought-provoking comment about first-come, first-serve student seating at games, a program he'd very much like to see instituted at Assembly Hall.
Well, Scott took his concern to our friend at the Indianapolis Star, Terry Hutchens, on his Hoosier Insider blog. The blog post has garnered a little bit of attention (though not as much as most of his posts) about whether or not the IU athletics program should follow brave Scott's suggestion.
Scott - whose letter is set to be published in tomorrow's edition of the Jordan River Forum - checked in with us again via e-mail today:
The post in Hutchens blog has been met with huge support. Tim Fitzpatrick, the Senior Associate AD, also responded to me last night after seeing the blog and is taking me out to lunch to discuss the idea further. He said they are seriously considering the idea for future years, and may like to involve me in the planning stages.The student government here at IU also responded last night saying they will be bringing the idea up at their next meeting.
This leaves one body who has not responded: the IDS (the most important by the way)
You have the power of students reading your paper. Write a story pushing students to get to the games early! Then continue to remind them before every game. If we can get a culture of arriving earlier, it will take off from there. Putting this in the Jordan River Forum is going to get us no where. It needs to be front page, sports section. That is the first thing many students turn too.
Here is a copy of my letter in case you have already deleted it:
For the past 4 years, I have attended every single basketball and football game. This is something not many students can say on this campus. I have one request for how we can improve the athletics program here at IU. It has to do with student basketball seating. I am not going to say we need to create a student section like everyone else wants, or that we need to build a new facility which a majority of people want.
I simply want first come; first serve seating for students at basketball games in the seats currently designated as "student seats." This would be the South side of Assembly Hall, Section L and M, and the balcony.
It is embarrassing to be 1 of 10-15 people in the student seating as each game begins. This would absolutely not happen at any other big time basketball school. We need to adopt a program like Michigan State uses. I attended one game there last year with some friends and had the great opportunity of sitting in the Izzone. We had to arrive 1 hour early to have a prayer of not getting stuck in the balcony student seats. By the way, it was not an important game either. It was an exhibition game. This is because it is based on first come, first serve general admission seating like we use for our IU Football games.
This idea would also create the need for changes in how we receive tickets. Michigan State gives the tickets to the students as they come to the game. The ticket that is given to each student is the best available seat. This ensures they do not have a couple empty seats in between groups, like we would have at an event like Midnight Madness where we allow people to come in and sit on a first come, first serve basis.
This would help foster the environment we need to create a "real home court advantage." Students who care the most will have the best seats, and all students will have an incentive to arrive early to the games instead of strolling in before halftime.
I believe this solves many of our problems we are currently having with IU Basketball. We desperately need a change like this, or our school is going to be continually embarrassed on television.
Sincerely,
Scott Manning
Well, I have a few things in response.
First of all, Scott, congratulations on gaining the attention of Mr. Fitzpatrick. I hope he takes your advice in earnest, and I'm really glad to see your issue quickly gaining traction. But 27 comments, in comparison to the number Hutchens usually gets (and some which are opposed to your idea) is not exactly "huge support." Let's tone down the rhetoric a bit.
Also, as far as the IDS being the only student body that "hasn't responded," actually, we responded immediately when you left your comment. Also, we passed along your letter for the Jordan River Forum, which publishes once a week. I'd say we've responded.
If it's a front-page space reserved for your letter that you want, well, that's not going to happen. President Herbert doesn't even have that sort of pull around the IDS.
We are, however, planning a story about student support at basketball games, which will take some time to source and produce. I'd look for it early next semester, right when students are coming back from break. That story will (hopefully) be balanced, thoughtful, and encouraging of student discussion on the issue. We're not going to write a story "pushing students to get to the games early!" We hope to engage students on the issue, but we're not going to push for anything, unless in an editorial. (Also, one would imagine students should be self-motivated to get to games early, but I suppose this goes back to your original issue, doesn't it?)
So, Scott, keep up the good work. But please keep in mind that our goal is to provide a forum for discussion, not to supplant that discussion with our own opinions.
Since we're providing that forum, I wonder: what do other students think? Think first-come, first-serve is the way to go for student seating? Would you favor that sort of policy? Let us know in the comments.
