Metro students no athletic supporters

I hear it all the time. People talking about sports and getting themselves worked up into a blather. ćProfessional athletes make too much money,ä some say. ćThese overpaid jerks donāt care about the game or its history,ä others babble. ćItās all about the bucks, and screw the fans,ä is a common contention.

I say these people are whiners, crybabies and voyeuristic double-talkers. Now please shut up because you donāt really mean it, especially not on this campus.

Hardly anybody showed up for the Metro volleyball teamās match Sept. 30 at the Auraria Events Center.

Unless you count the handful of rugby players, who just might have managed to make up for all the empty seats with their rowdiness. And these guys say I never give them any ink.

The usual sprinkling of parents, friends, members of other Metro sports teams and the faithful lot of Metro cheerleaders also attended. But you, the students, stayed away.

I know, I know, you had homework to do. Or maybe you had to go to work, which to me is one of few valid excuses for not showing up once in awhile. Some students have families to get home to and take care of. I would only ask these people, why not bring the family to a game?

There are hoards of Metro students losing brain cells on Friday and Saturday nights in downtown bars only a few blocks away, but they refuse to come over and watch a game.

Iāll bet Metroās mothers and fathers, workers, studiers and partiers would be going out of their way to get to an Avalanche or Broncos game if they were handed a pair of tickets. And that is the dilemma the schoolās athletic department faces, how to compete with four professional sports franchises (yes, Iām counting the Nuggets).

Not for money ÷ any Metro student gets into any Metro game free ÷ but for support.

Metro athletics director William Helman recognizes there is a problem.

|ćA commuter school is a tougher sell,ä Helman said.

It makes it much tougher when the Student Government Assembly spends its time worrying about the name of the institution, and not the people in it. But, Helman said he has received some positive signs from this particular SGA.

Metro President Sheila Kaplan hardly shows up, either.

ćIt takes winning first, Iām afraid.ä Helman said.
But why should winning matter? Iām not convinced. Itās not winning and losing I see people grinding their teeth over ÷ although plenty of that happens. Everybody seems to be worried about the integrity in sports and the money.

If thatās true, then it makes no sense not to go to where the integrity is ÷ plus itās free.

Metroās student-athletes and others from rival schools play because they love to. And they play hard. Thatās what youāre after, right?

Metroās sports information director Mark Cicero has it right.

ćItās an unfortunate situation because (the athletes) are busting their butts for the love of the sport,ä Cicero said.
Given all the high talk about the low-lifes in pro sports, one might think the Auraria Events Center, which seats 3,000, would be sold out every night. But itās just the opposite.

You like rooting for the ćoverpaid.ä You like rooting for the guy who smiles when he asks for $15 for an autograph. You like rooting for the team whose owner has blackmailed you. You like to jeer at the guy who beat up his girlfriend, or was arrested for drunk driving, or spit in the umpires face, or... You like it, so admit it and quit talking out of both sides of your mouth.

If any of you mean what you say, then I say you  check out a Metro game. Soccer is big with kids, so take yours to a  game. Starting Oct. 10, there will actually be home games. Bring a date to a volleyball match or a basketball game before going across Speer Boulevard for a beer. You are paying $18 a semester to support these teams, so go check out what you pay for.