Lake Larsen | Sports Editor
As a child I practically grew up with some type of sports equipment in my hand. Some of my fondest memories as a kid are from Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California, hearing the loud boom of the cannon on Strawberry Hill as the UC Berkeley Golden Bears scored a touchdown. That’s what I love about college sports: taking part in a fun tradition to root on your school.
Coming into Western as a first-year, a school with over 150 years of history, I was excited to see what traditions it had in store to take part in as a student. As I found my seat, ready to watch the Wolves football team for the first time, I gazed onto the field to see that not only was there no logo painted at midfield, but no endzone art either. Now, as a senior, I’m happy to see that there’s a little more care given to the appearance of the field with the new WOU badge on the 50-yard line, but there’s still no attention given to getting the student crowd fired up to watch their Wolves.
College sports differ from their professional counterpart due to the history and tradition that can be found at the games. My grandfather graduated UC Berkeley class of 1957 and to this day loves to sing the fight song after the Bears score. Meanwhile, Western leaves nothing for students to latch onto and remember for the decades to come. Whether it be something as large as a cannon firing off, a wolf howl or just something as little as just playing the fight song, Western needs something. Having been to dozens of games at Western, I’ve yet to actually hear someone play the fight song.
If Western was serious about wanting students to get more engaged and coming to games, they should look into making the sporting events more than just an event. Instead of just having students show up and leave, make the match a can’t-miss-experience. Play a wolf howl when the Wolves make a defensive stop, make some noise other than cheering when Western scores. Play the fight song for once. Honestly at this point, I would settle for even a simple saying like “Roll on you Bears” or “Fight on Trojans” to make me feel like more of a part of the school instead of just watching some game.
Contact the author at llarsen13@wou.edu
