Column: Assistant Sports Editor Report

By: Dan Cusack/Assistant Sports Editor

Posted: 11/18/08

Last week, Eastern athletic director Barbara Burke issued her first AD Report just as the men's and women's basketball teams kicked off their 2008-2009 campaigns.

In the spirit of issuing reports on athletic programs after five sports had nearly finished their season, it's time for the first annual Assistant Sports Editor Report.

First of all, I would like to thank Sports Editor Scott Richey and Editor-in-Chief Kristina Peters for allowing me to cover 400-plus student-athletes, but unlike the athletic director, I acknowledged them during their season.

Don't stop reading this because I am about to address issues involving attendance, Lantz Arena changes and the new stadium design that cuts out a block of seats.

Let's start with Lantz Arena. As you may have noticed, there are new murals, floor design and bells and whistles this year with men's and women's basketball.

If this doesn't make you attend a basketball game, I do not know what will! I mean, who cares if the team is losing by 20 or more points during a 7 p.m. Saturday game? They came out with a cool Panther head with smoke! Wow!

Real basketball fans don't care about murals and fancy introductions.

All they ask for is a competitive team that will play with heart and entertain them for 40 minutes.

You can bribe fans with T-shirt giveaways and smoke-laden introductions, but the only thing that will truly boost attendance is a competitive, winning team.

Next, the athletic department challenges the fans of Eastern on attendance. Burke wants Eastern students to wear blue jeans, blue socks, blue hair and, why not, blue underwear if you have it.

"I challenge you to get loud," Burke said in her report. "To get on your feet, to stay on your feet and to scream like crazy. It is our duty, as Panther Nation, to cause a ruckus for the opponent (with good sportsmanship, of course). In order to dominate the OVC, we must be the loudest crowd in the conference."

This is all well and good. However, there will be an entire section of the arena that most fans will not be able to access.

Why, you may ask? The upper seating in the south section of Lantz will now become the Panther Patio. So if you donate $500 to the athletic department, you can get AJ's, Boxa and free drinks before the game.

But wait. How many college students have half a grand lying around? And if Burke really wants the arena to get loud, why would she take out an entire section of seating that could be used to, I don't know, get loud, distract opposing teams on free throws and help benefit Eastern during the game?

There couldn't be a Panther Room or a Panther Corridor? It had to take out an entire section of seating?

So I now have a challenge to the athletic department and the fans. For fans, go to the game, get loud and support Eastern athletics. College basketball can be exciting, and you can make it that way.

To the athletic department: Don't try to use bells and whistles to increase attendance. Give Eastern fans a team they can be proud of watching - a team that plays competitively and wins games.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.