I don't necessarily care where the students sit either, and I agree when you say that regardless of where you sit, you must be a sportsman. But with both experiences I have had at Yager I witnessed VERY unsportsmanlike conduct from a large number of students behind the away bench towards away players. I know it's not YOU doing that, but I completely understand the need for the rule. I see both sides.
My other issue is this: if there is a rule, it should be followed. (Of course there are always exceptions, like "It's illegal to eat ice cream on Sundays" or stupid stuff like that.) But in this case, there is no legitimate reason this rule CANNOT be followed, even if it is kind of a lame rule. If one MAC school has to follow a conference rule, ALL MAC schools should follow the conference rule. No school is above that. No BG. Not Miami. Not Toledo. Period.
If the rule is SO asinine that it should be changed, then the schools should get together and take it to the conference, rather than disobey it.
I completely disagree for several reasons, and I am not saying that Miami fans are the best, I have seen disgraceful behavior, I wouldn't encourage it, but let me come at this from a different angle.
Where do you want the students to sit? Do you displace fans who are mostly alumns who pay hundreds of dollars each year on the home side, the ones that are your donors who give to projects like the Sebo? Do you hide students in the corners of the stadium to appease coaches who can't handle a semi-tough environment? As a student would you like to be confined to the endzones or be locked out of the seats between the 25 yard lines, and they would go empty without you? Would you be happy in the upper reaches of the stadium? Or as a student do you want to feel a part of your university, and not as a lepper and to be able to sit in seats that are General Admission.
You pay a fee... a large one... to the athletic department each year... it is the neighborhood of $350-550 a year at most MAC schools. You have no choice in the matter, its in your fees. I accepted this fact, I paid it at Miami, you pay it at BG, and so does every other student. This fee, gurantees you a seat in the stadium for every game that isn't "sold out". Why do you want to be discriminated against because you are a student? You are openly saying that because you are a student you are less of a person than someone who is a graduate of the university, or just some joe schmo?
The rule was put in place because students were "intimidating" 250lb men who bench press more then 98% of the campus, who wear pads and helmets, and who are bad mofo's should you want to come in and pick a fight with them. The rule was put into place, because presidents over reacted to situations at Big 10, SEC, and other schools in the nation that have a following which is 5 to 10 times as great as a MAC school.
Its a stupid rule, plain and simple.
Miami students today are 35 feet away from the benches, they have to clear walls that are nearly impossible to scale without being caught by a cop, and then you want to tangle with the football players? Thats nuts. Oh and there are now security cameras, and you will be suspended if not expelled should you go over that wall, or throw anything over that wall.
MAC schools have very few things going for them, but a loyal student following isn't something you should squash, it is something you desperately need to cultivate into season ticket holders once they graduate.
Here's a suggestion for the board, go pick up the book, The Tipping Point. Read the section about the broken window, and how a single broken window turns into more, much more if we let it progress.
If we want to change the attitudes at sporting events, then we all need to take charge at these events, when people act unruly. Get an usher, grab a cop, grab someone from the athletic department and have them booted. Tell your friends to stop cussing, tell them to be creative instead. Don't boo the opposing team, turn your back on them when they enter the stadium/arena.
Students will behave well when others take the lead and do the same, its a mob mentality. If the group is cool and collective, everyone will remain the same, but if we follow the lead of idiots, the mob becomes idiots. (See the Cleveland Browns and the bottle throwing incident).
Or better yet, act decently because you want to be classy. Have student ambassadors at the game, bring your mom to a game and have her sit next to you. Would you act the same? I doubt it.
i don't care where BG puts their students, but I can't believe anyone would want to be treated as a second class citizen just because you are a student, yet time and again any university or a town for that matter will bend you over and spank you because they don't respect you and that they believe you can't make decisions for yourself. Take ownership of your actions, take ownership of your friends, and take ownership of your life and don't allow other individuals make decisions for you because you allow them to.
