What ever happened to school spirit?

Back in September, the VSU Blazers played West Alabama, and the result was a disappointment. What was even more disappointing was the attitude of those who were supposed to be loyal to VSU.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, the stadium was nearly empty, and the once-loud Bazemore Hyder Stadium had turned into a mausoleum– with only the heartiest of VSU followers there to cheer their classmates on.

VSU–shame on you. You should be real proud of yourselves, walking away from your classmates like that. Imagine just how the football team felt, to see the people who they thought were supporting them walk away and go home. They needed your support and you turned your backs on them.

            Sure, it may have been painful to watch– to see VSU lose a crucial game to a top rival, but your classmates could have used your support there, and that’s just it. They are our classmates. The people who go into battle wearing the colors of Valdosta State are people that are just like you and me. We go to classes with them. We study with them. We share war stories of unfortunate moments in class with them. They’re not the prima donnas that play in the National Football League who won’t play for anything less than $50 million a year so they can support their fifth house on Cape Cod or the payments for their new Lamborghini. The people that play for Valdosta State are our classmates. Simple as that.

            Plus, I don’t think I’d really want to go into a class and look at the star linebacker in the eye and said “Yeah, I left after the third quarter because you guys were getting your ass kicked.”

            That just wouldn’t work.

            However, there is still an opportunity to change that, and this week is it. It’s time to end the notion that leaving early is a good idea if the game’s become a lost cause. It’s time to end the idea that it’s acceptable to walk out on your classmates, because it’s not.

            This week’s perhaps the best time for that change to happen, too. It’s Homecoming week, and VSU is playing Delta State on Saturday. Regardless of the outcome, or how the game seems to turn out, stay and support your classmates. Don’t leave the game early, and don’t walk away from the people you go to class with. It’s that support that they need that can motivate, and propel them to the top of the heap.