For most of this season, as depressing as the Virginia basketball team's performance has been, there was always a lively student section to cheer me up. Yesterday afternoon, however, it was the basketball team that counterbalanced a depression brought on by the low attendance of the students.
There were noticeable holes in the area behind the basket next to the band and even in the highly coveted sideline student seating, there were some empty seats here and there.
So Virginia is having a pretty lousy season. And yes, N.C. State is not quite as prestigious an opponent as a UNC or a Duke. Nevertheless, the fact that students wouldn't come out in droves to watch this team is simply incomprehensible to me.
Out of curiosity, I looked on StubHub to see the going rate on tickets for the home game against Maryland a week from Sunday. The cheapest tickets were going for $39, in section 310, row Y. Don't know where section 310 is? It's in the far corner of the upper deck.
And row Y? I think that's pretty self-explanatory.
Then, I got a little more curious. I decided to meet a few of the people sitting in those areas.
Meet Max Davis, from the depths of section 311. He lives in Charlottesville and got tickets from a friend.
"I just enjoy being around the crowd and the liveliness of the students," Davis said. "I love watching the students jump up on their toes."
Meet Jason Tolley, and his young son Eric -- section 310. They bought their tickets for $30 a pop and drove from Troutman, Va., just outside of Roanoke, to make it to the game.
"Win or lose, we're there," Tolley said.
Eric's favorite player is Sean Singletary.
These guys, who sat closer to the stratosphere than to the basketball court, wouldn't have missed this game for the world. The Tolleys even drove one hour and 43 minutes -- trust me, I Google-mapped it -- to watch their 'Hoos play.
And yet, some of the students of this University, who need only roll out of bed and walk to the arena, who pay zilch for some of the best seats in the house, couldn't make it.
As I've said several times this year in this very column, real fans don't wait until the grass turns green to show their support. They are there for the yellow, the brown and even the barren patches, because when the green finally shines through -- and it inevitably does -- the contrast is that much more striking.
But that's not the only reason why the student section should have been filled. There are other reasons why people shell out hundreds of dollars to watch a last-place team play. There are tangible things that the stay-at-home "fan," missed yesterday while staying in the comfort of his own apartment, house or dormitory.
Those who stayed at home missed two teams from the best conference in Division I college basketball duke it out for 40 exciting minutes.
They missed a guy named Sean Singletary, who for all intensive purposes is a professional basketball player. They missed someone who next year is going to wow millions of viewers with a combination of don't-blink quickness and expert ball-handling.
And the most disappointing part about it is that the 'Hoos finally gave their fans a win. After the Cavs put up a tremendous fight against North Carolina and after they grabbed their first road win in the next game against Boston College, they finally found a well-deserved home victory, their first since Jan. 19.
Want to know a good way to make amends? Come back for Duke over Spring Break. Let those Virginia players know that you are still there for them. Give Coach K hell for not choosing Gilbert Arenas for the Olympic team. Don't let Greg Paulus forget the shot he missed last year that would have won last year's game in this arena. Help Virginia do just about the only thing it can to make this season matter: spoil someone else's season.
Singletary and company still care whether they win or lose. If you are a true fan, you will show them that you still care, too.
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