Confessions of a D1-AA Student

The thrill of attending a sporting event is one that rivals few other such experiences in life. It is intangible and exhilarating. It is all at once delightful and awesome.

To be a part of the crowd and to feel that you are, in fact, helping your home team like an extra man on the field is truly unique to sporting events. It is a chance for the average person to feel as though he is a part of something bigger than himself—and a part of such a high level of athletics.

It is more than just support and cheering. It is a bonding experience for parents and their children as well as perfect strangers brought together by their affinity for their team. It is a love that so many fans know well—to claim to have your team's colors running in your blood.

It's not like that when your school has a Division 1-AA football team. Instead of intense rivalries and spirited home crowds, here at Illinois State we have a consistently disappointing team that inspires crowds to leave at half-time.

We have a football stadium that is put to shame by some high school fields. (Let's not even compare it to other colleges.)

We have a student section that cares enough to come, but cheering sometimes is asking too much.

Perhaps I am spoiled by growing up in Champaign, home of the University of Illinois and one of the greatest student sections in the country: the Orange Krush. Honestly, I don't think that it is too much to ask that students care about the team and want to cheer them on to victory.

As a child I always dreamed of attending a school at which I could raucously cheer on my team and paint my chest or something else equally as crazy. Alas, it has become just another one of my childhood dreams that has since been crushed to bits like a boat on a rocky shore.

I am not certain that all D1-AA school crowds are the same. In fact, I'm sure that there are schools with impassioned fans out each Saturday to play the role of 12th man on the football field. However, such a school is not to be found in Normal, Illinois.

Instead, I am stuck attending (or not, as I have resigned myself to simply saving money and disappointment) home games that are better viewed as social events or just another reason to get drunk before 6:00 pm.

Maybe someday, some passionate student will instill a fighting spirit in the Redbird crowds. Though I doubt it will be while I'm in attendance here.