I may be preaching to the choir, given that my readers are allegedly "sports fans," but it bears repeating that the student fan base here at Virginia is subpar. Granted, we aren't exactly the defending national champions in men's basketball, but if you watch a Duke game on TV, every fan at Cameron Indoor Stadium goes nuts from the opening tip-off until the final buzzer. What do we see at John Paul Jones Arena? Nothing but a relatively unexcited student section that received a lousy hype sheet promoting the game from the 'Hoo Crew. In the fall, you may notice as you walk to football games - likely after the game has already begun - that seemingly half of the school is still on the Lawn or at tailgates come kickoff, while the other half has no plan of going to the game at all. At few other schools in a BCS conference would one see such tardiness and lack of enthusiasm for the home team. Even our "white out" attempt during the Florida State game was unsuccessful despite the free shirts handed out at the gates.
I would like to say we are classy fans, but I don't know if I can even go that far - guys in ties and girls in pearls can only do so much. Last summer, I took a trip down to Charlottesville to support the Virginia baseball team in the NCAA Super Regionals. As I baked in the sun of the right field bleachers, fans began to heckle Oklahoma right fielder Cody Reine. The fans constantly shouted profanities at Reine and even gave the 5-foot-11, 225-pound outfielder the nickname "Stumpy." Early in the game, Reine gunned down a Virginia base runner at third. The "Stumpy" jeers still rained down from the stands. Oklahoma went on to a 10-7 victory in the game as Reine smacked two of the longest home runs I had ever seen at Davenport Field. The next day "Stumpy" still wasn't done - he hit two more homers to lead Oklahoma to a College World Series berth. I don't doubt that Reine was still heckled after almost single-handedly ending the Virginia baseball season. Although not all of the hecklers were students, they still tarnished the image of the supposedly classy Virginia sports fan.
Clearly, our fans need to pick up their game as much as our student-athletes do. I sat down with 'Hoo Crew President Ben Fitts, earlier this week to discuss this very issue. The course of our conversation ranged from our favorite sports teams to courses of study, but we mainly focused on what the 'Hoo Crew is doing to promote Virginia's sports teams. Fitts called this "a trying time for 'Hoo Crew," what with the football program struggling to string together wins and men's basketball hovering around .500. Despite this lack of success, Fitts and I are both impressed with the attendance at men's basketball games this year. You see a lot of 'Hoo Crew shirts at the games and all of the student tickets are disappearing - two signs the organization must be doing something right.
Unless you have a high-powered e-mail filter, you likely have noticed the recent "hype sheets" provided by the 'Hoo Crew. If you are unfamiliar with the hype sheets, they are intended to be exactly what they sound like - a source of school spirit and sports savvy for Cavalier fans at home games. Recent hype sheets, however, have been nothing of the sort. They frequently list the Virginia roster and record along with the record of the opposing team - information a 30-second internet search could provide. From time to time, something funny will slip in, such as a picture of drunken Maryland coach, Gary Williams. Fitts did explain to me that the hype sheets are definitely a "work in progress" even though they have not changed much in recent years. The 'Hoo Crew has received some negative feedback on them but is actively searching for solid ideas for improvement, so don't hesitate to send them your own suggestions. Fitts enlightened me about 'Hoo Crew's aspirations to create a YouTube page with hype videos featuring players and coaches, as well as to potentially distribute hype sheets at games so that they reach more fans. Ultimately, however, there is only so much that this relatively small student organization can do. Fitts made a good point when he said, "At the end of the day we are just a bunch of fans" - a bunch of fans just like the rest of us. It may be the math nerd in me talking, but it will take the union of these two sets of fans to successfully elevate our fan base to the status it enjoyed in the days of Sean Singletary, Chris Long and the like. Who knows? It may be easy in a few years, provided that one or more of the abundant freshmen on men's basketball flourish and lead Virginia back to tournament play. But I, along with half of the school, likely won't get to see that in person, so I ask for you to step it up now.
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