College football season is great.
The smell of tailgating — real tailgating, not getting day-drunk in the name of sports — crisp fall air, all that typical stuff that makes you want to put on a hoodie for your favorite team and yell insults at men who take the field to beat it makes it great.
On Saturday, we got to have all those warm fuzzies inside as we watched the Hoosiers play one half of a football game. Then, we watched the Hoosiers watch the Cardinals play football.
Actually, after the Marching Hundred’s awesome 1960s set, I noticed a significantly lower number of people in the student section than there had been at kickoff. So I guess it’d be more accurate to say 41,374 of us watched the Hoosiers in the first half.
Now, if you pay even a modicum of attention to IU sports, you know Hoosier football doesn’t have the greatest fan retention rate.
People come for kickoff. IU scores, and maybe the other team scores. But once fans think they’ve seen enough to determine the outcome, they leave.
Throughout the first half, you get the people leaving out of boredom, out of spite or because they’re too drunk to stand for the eternity that is a college football game.
Flashback time: when I was a kid, my uncle took me to a Chicago White Sox game every year. Every year, we left in the 7th or 8th inning, and I never understood why. Maybe it’s because I have major Fear Of Missing Out in every aspect of my life, or maybe it’s because I just really like baseball, but I was so afraid that by leaving early, I would miss something huge.
Now, is that likely with IU football? Maybe not. But remember last year’s Michigan double-overtime game when everyone was ready to rush the field just in case IU actually did win? What an exhilarating feeling.
Those of you who left after Michigan’s first score probably don’t remember.
It’s probably a stretch to assume Ball State was able to shut out IU in the fourth quarter 17-0 because IU fans left when the Hoosiers hit that 30-point lead. But who knows for sure. Maybe junior quarterback Richard Lagow finds motivation in a stadium full of his peers cheering.
I’ve seen people leave early in the game because they think they know how it will turn out. IU starts the game on the right foot or the wrong foot, so obviously we already know how it will turn out.
But what I find incredibly interesting is that students are willing to pay $10 to enter the stadium, watch for 10 minutes, and leave.
You know what else you could get with $10 instead of wasting it on 10 minutes of football?
A nice meal at Buffa Louie’s. Almost two Little 500 deals from Pizza X. Five drinks on $2 Tuesday.
So, fans, Make up your mind. Come and enjoy some football — as much as you can enjoy IU football — or just don’t. Just stop being so wishy-washy.
jzega@indiana.edu
