Staff Editorial: Passion, not fury
By: Andy Stewart
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Opinions
You may have noticed as you walked into Paladin Stadium, a.k.a. "The Dungeon," this past Saturday that in order to enter the football game, or any varsity sporting event for that matter, you must have your student ID card swiped at the gate. You may not know, however, that in doing so you also enlist yourself in an army of fans against the bastions of apathy - the few, the proud, the furious. The Furman Fury, the official Furman athletics fan organization for students, was created in hopes of increasing students attendance at sporting events.
As stated on their official website, the Furman Fury is an organization focused on creating "a positive, unified and passionate student section to support all Furman athletics teams." However, the inherent flaw in the Fury's program, and the problem the organization has faced ever since its creation, is that students don't consider the fact that they will be rewarded with a fury point when they are deciding whether to attend an athletic event. While a program designed to increase student attendance at sporting events is by no means officious, we would dare to say that few students have attended a Furman football game with the express purpose of receiving a fury point.
Unfortunately, the process of drawing students out of their apartments and into the stadiums is not as simple as the Furman Fury's plan of action may lead you to believe. Meager material reward is simply not incentive enough to attract students to sporting events that they would not already be attending. And while student attendance at sporting events has been somewhat underwhelming recently - if Saturday's game vs. The Citadel was any indication - giving away shirts and gift cards as impetus to support Furman athletics makes these prizes mere bonuses for students who regularly attend games anyways, and does not actually stimulate the passionate student section that the organization was founded to foster.
The administration's attempt to instill a sense of pride and passion for Furman athletics in its student body is certainly laudable, but if any movement is to be succesful in increasing the number of students who support our sports teams it will have to be student-led. Prizes cannot create passion. Rather, in order to sustain a large, passionate, committed fan section at games, it must be created and filled with students driven by a love of sports, a devotion to our school and a desire to support our fellow students. Give out all the free shirts you want, but Fury cannot beget passion.
As stated on their official website, the Furman Fury is an organization focused on creating "a positive, unified and passionate student section to support all Furman athletics teams." However, the inherent flaw in the Fury's program, and the problem the organization has faced ever since its creation, is that students don't consider the fact that they will be rewarded with a fury point when they are deciding whether to attend an athletic event. While a program designed to increase student attendance at sporting events is by no means officious, we would dare to say that few students have attended a Furman football game with the express purpose of receiving a fury point.
Unfortunately, the process of drawing students out of their apartments and into the stadiums is not as simple as the Furman Fury's plan of action may lead you to believe. Meager material reward is simply not incentive enough to attract students to sporting events that they would not already be attending. And while student attendance at sporting events has been somewhat underwhelming recently - if Saturday's game vs. The Citadel was any indication - giving away shirts and gift cards as impetus to support Furman athletics makes these prizes mere bonuses for students who regularly attend games anyways, and does not actually stimulate the passionate student section that the organization was founded to foster.
The administration's attempt to instill a sense of pride and passion for Furman athletics in its student body is certainly laudable, but if any movement is to be succesful in increasing the number of students who support our sports teams it will have to be student-led. Prizes cannot create passion. Rather, in order to sustain a large, passionate, committed fan section at games, it must be created and filled with students driven by a love of sports, a devotion to our school and a desire to support our fellow students. Give out all the free shirts you want, but Fury cannot beget passion.