Ah, middle of September. Pumpkin spice is back, the leaves are starting to change colors, there’s a cool breeze in the air, and, my favorite, football is back. If you were to look at my “college must have” points when I was looking at schools, one of the top three “must haves” was a school with a football team. Why I ended up at Stevens given that stipulation still baffles me. I took that requirement super seriously and my parents thought I was joking when I said I was coming here (mildly unappreciated decision after spending at least $100 in the Nittany Lion bookstore). As much as I have some serious fear of missing out on watching my friends who go to other schools during weekend tailgates and having a blast, I honestly think Stevens would not be fit for a “football culture”.
A decent majority of the football weekend experience has to be supported by space that all students know Stevens doesn’t have. Parking lots of people hanging out and grilling before kickoff simply couldn’t happen. With 8th Street Lot already bursting at the seams and Babbio garage eternally unfinished, there’s really nowhere to tailgate. Also the stadium atmosphere would not suffice on the DeBaun Athletic Complex. As it stands now, the bleachers and on the field fan section seems rather awkwardly spaced out and the camaraderie that a football stadium provides would not be replicated. We would definitely need a bigger space for fans to cheer on the Ducks or even a stadium to get the job done. Maybe if we could place a stadium on the waterfront (because Hoboken residents would LOVE that); however, it simply wouldn’t work.
Another aspect of the football culture is overall school spirit. As a student who could easily admit she bleeds red and gray, it is a pretty rare occurrence to see a solid group of people, who would ultimately be the football team’s fan base, have an equal amount of school spirit. In general, our school needs to work on our school spirit, but I’ll save that for another column. The point of the matter is, a football team would need fans. Like many athletes on this campus could attest to, a good chunk of playing a sport is hearing others cheer for it. To experience the triumphs and defeats as a player is one thing but to share them with a fan base is another. I would love for our campus to erupt in cheers and screaming after a big touchdown catch is made but it would take a huge cultural shift to do that.
I do have to point out our athletic program would definitely support the addition of football in a multitude of ways. First and foremost, they would hire top of the line staffing. Like any other staff member at this school, each coaching staff member is picked to not just be the best at what they do, but the best in what they would contribute to the university. We have top of the line athletics and top of the line athletes who actively participate on campus, in the community, and in the classroom. I do credit a lot athletes’ behavior to the high expectations the coaches have for their teams. Second, the school would actively recruit. Being a tour guide, I have seen a fair share of athletic special visit days. After striking up conversations with many of these prospective athletes, I’ve learned these students are being recruited by schools all over. The athletes that are here today probably had to make tough decisions between NCAA divisions, teams, academics, and more and decided to dominate on the fields and courts at Stevens. Our athletic program is already really special and a football team would be accepted with open arms.
I ultimately decided to come to Stevens for reasons far more important than a sports team I would root for. Though I still consider myself a college football fan and root for the schools I almost went to, my feelings of missing out aren’t as strong as what I thought they would be in the Fall of 2013. As I scroll past my friend’s Snapchat stories chugging beers and watching their team get crushed by a Big 10 school, I have to admit Stevens would not survive that culture. We would definitely have to come a long way to be rooting for a Ducks football program.