It is no secret that the UB football team is in a miserable state of affairs. So miserable, in fact, that the Bulls currently hold the longest current losing streak for Division I-A football. While it is easy to pin the team's failures on the coaches and the players, credit for ruining the football program must also be given to those who organize the home football games.
In the Bulls' home opener against Colgate, the Student Association and the Athletics Department teamed up to bring Shaggy for a three-song halftime show, spending $30,000 (or $10,000 per song) in the process. Although Shaggy is representative of how the school is completely out of touch with the students, there were also many other instances I experienced where I got the feeling that the school was going out of their way to alienate the student body.
First, when my friends and I were making our way to the ticket booth, we were stopped at least three times by people who informed us that Guinness (of "World Records" fame) was on hand to supervise what was supposed to be the largest water balloon fight in history.
Incredible. UB has made painstaking (if misguided) efforts to bring students to the football game, and right by the entrance, there are people trying to stop students from entering the stadium.
Once we got our tickets, my friends and I tried to sit in the stands by the sidelines. Yet the usher told us that those seats were reserved for "paying customers." We had to sit in the "student section," conveniently located behind Shaggy's stage, the worst seats in the house. Apparently, the free student tickets were only valid for that SA-designated "student section." According to John Lambert, the associate athletic director of external relations, SA President George Pape requested that the student section be located behind the stage in order to offer fans a better view of the Shaggy halftime show.
That's great for all those rabid Shaggy fans, but I was livid. I don't care about Shaggy. What about the students that were there to see the football game? And furthermore, why aren't UB students considered "paying customers?" We pay to see the game. We pay what's called "tuition," without which the football program would not even exist. Also, part of our mandatory student fee goes directly to the Athletics Department.
Not-so-coincidentally, at the next home game against UConn (without a Shaggy halftime show), my friends and I were able to sit anywhere in the stadium, noticing that there was less than 30 people in what was previously the "student section."
As bad as these incidents are, UB always seems to find more ways to discourage students. One sure-fire way to keep students away from the games is cost. While admission to the game is free for all UB students, I was appalled to see that parking near UB Stadium would have cost $5. After parking near the UB Bookstore (for free), I then discovered that a bottle of water at the game would run me $2.25, while a hamburger or hot dog would set me back $2.50 apiece.
Here's an idea to boost student attendance: How about SA takes the $30,000 they spent for a 10-minute halftime show and instead provide free food for UB students? I guarantee that policy would attract more students than "Bigfoot," a monster truck from 1986, ever will.
What it comes down to is that UB football is at the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. In my opinion, there are only two options for UB: either they can cut the football program entirely, which would free millions of dollars for the university, or they could take the money that they're wasting on laughable halftime shows and use it to (illegally) recruit high school athletes.
I think that UB should go crazy "Blue Chips"-style and offer any talented high school athlete anything they want so that they'll play for the Bulls. Every Division I-A school does it. Why else would any prime athlete go to college in Nebraska?
UB students deserve better than what the school is offering. The only way to get students interested in the football program is to have a winning football team. Until UB is able to deliver one, they should treat the students with some respect. After all, it's the student's money that they're wasting.
