Tonight, Ball State's Stadium will be artificially illuminatedfor the second time in this school's existence. It will be historyin the making, and students, faculty and staff should be there toexperience it.
Over the past few months (well, who are we kidding: years),students have consistently (and to some people, irritably)complained about the lack of campus activities on any givenThursday, Friday or Saturday night. Well, guess what: There is afootball game tonight.
The price cannot be beat (bring that student ID), the excitementcannot be matched (cheering your school on with 18,000 closefriends) and the benefits are far beyond personal (just keepreading).
Ball State used private donations to install lights in therecently renovated stadium for the benefits of ALL students,faculty and staff alike. Not just for the fans -- not just for theteam. Tonight's game is more than a sporting event; It is a chancefor Ball State to, once and for all, unite.
Tonight it is not just about winning.
More is on the line than a team's record; in fact their high(Division 1A) status in the country's most recognized sportingassociation (the NCAA) is hanging by an even thinner thread. Ifstudents do one thing for this university this year, they should goto this game. Should they do more than one thing for the universitythis year, they should go to the other four home games thisyear.
The University needs an average of 15,000 fans through all ofits home games this year, or else its status in the conference willbe lowered. What may sound like a minor deal is actually quite theserious matter. Losing division one status in the NCAA could spellcatastrophe for BSU's athletic department: from the millions ofdollars invested into the team and its facilities over the past fewyears to the millions more that are brought in to the Universityand its surrounding community every season.
And students thought "Police Yourself" was a waste of funds?
By not supporting this team, students will be throwing moneydown the proverbial drain, and could be jeopardizing the financialsituation of all other BSU sports teams. This year demonstratesjust what happens when those very sports teams lose funds: Theycease their existence.
So, money down the drain, athletes minus their sports and thestudent body with one less thing to do; sounds like trouble tous.
Oh, did we mention that it's free?
Just one more reason to go, that's all.
No pressure or anything.
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