When things are uncertain, when an outcome is ‘hanging in the balance,’ when it’s “in limbo,” convictions start waning. Hope fades; doubt begins to fester and swell. It’s trying times in these waiting rooms, and here we are.
We’re stuck sitting here in this uncomfortable chair while a team of Regent specialists scrutinize our case in the next room with the blinds pulled shut. It’s as dicey a seat as George R.R. Martin’s Iron Throne, I know. This is why I’m writing: to reassure our belief in the cause that brought us here, to burst the bubbles of doubt eclipsing our view and to reunite us stronger than before. It’s not about some passing desire for our school to fit-in which is at stake; it’s about our school getting the respect it deserves and garnishing the adoration to which it’s entitled. This is about us; this is about our football team!
The effect football has on any given college has been studied and the benefits well documented.
Jake Landry, of livestrong.com, details how football enhances a school’s prestige: “Schools with successful football programs are well-known around the country.”
The addition of such a high profile sport causes university enrollment to increase, he writes, which allows the school to be more selective academically.
In a recent article on collegefootballpoll.com, Landry’s words were echoed by KSU’s President, Dan Papp, when he stated, “having a football team tremendously heightens the visibility of
an institution and in many cases the attractiveness of an institution as well.”
In addition to raising the status of the college, football programs are usually very profitable enterprises. This is one of the concrete reasons KSU has this proposal on the books. There are many reasons, none of which should be discounted, but there are also some very valuable intangible benefits as well which merit attention.
Have you been to the bookstore lately? Take a mental snapshot of the stock of KSU- branded clothing available.
Their inventory is full. Just down I-75 at Georgia State, their bookstore had the same problem before football kicked off in 2010. Now, as Dorie Turner of the AP writes, “the campus is awash in the university’s bright blue, alumni who’ve not been to campus in decades flock to games, and students are calling downtown their home.”
Home? If that kind of spirit can take over Georgia State, just think of what football will do to us here, 20 miles removed from the shadow of Georgia Tech; here, where people occupy neighborhoods instead of high- rise office buildings; here, where we have a massive, oval campus green, rather than a crowded concrete courtyard; here, where our city is in our name and local landmark in our logo; here, where community still exists.
Regents, we want it. We need it. Give it to us. Give us scoreboards to be operated and counters to be vended, cheers to be led and marches to be banded. Give us the adrenaline that comes with fourth and inches and we will stomp our feet in sync.
Give us all something to root for on Saturdays, Regents. Because, in the words of Athletic Director, Vaughn Williams (quoted in the same article as Papp), this pending football program is “bigger than football.”
This is about our identity: as a team, as a school and as a community.
So, who are we? “Owls” on three: one, two, three…
Ryan is a senior and an English major.
Interesting article but needs some fact checking. Adding football to KSU will not allow KSU to be more selective academically since it is mandated by the state to accept everyone (not allowed to turn people away). Secondaly, most college football programs are not profitable which is why many colleges across the country have been shutting down their football programs. Football costs money and lots of it. Also, where are the multitude of staff that will be hired for football going to be housed? There’s no space available on the campus with vacant offices. KSU is obviously well known enough now that there are problems with providing enough classes for student enrolled – just ask someone transferring in. This economic environment seems completely wrong for this type of undertaking even without the other issues.