I have always taken great pride in University of Arizona basketball fans’ dedication. We’ve believed “next year will be our year” since 2001. We’ve stuck with our program through injuries, upsets and ESPN reports. We pack out the house every season, whether last year’s team cut down nets or got sent home early; and every season our opponents fear McKale’s thunderous roar. It’s just a shame our determination hasn’t spread to our football team.
We may consider ourselves a “basketball school,” but there are plenty of schools capable of supporting football and basketball programs with equal fervor. Are we not as passionate about our school as they are? Do we have less energy or enthusiasm? We can no longer perpetuate the excuse that you’re either one or the other. We are better than that.
Our football fandom tends to put the cart before the horse — “I’ll show up to games once we start winning,” “I’ll start cheering once there’s something to cheer for.” The problem is we are viewing ourselves as the cart; the inanimate object that needs to be pushed or pulled. But, good fan bases are not the cart, good fan bases are the horse. They provide the power, the energy and the grit to get the cart through the mud and up unpaved roads.
If 14,000 UA fans can shake McKale’s foundation, why can’t 57,000 UA fans wake the dead at Arizona Stadium? We have that pulling power, we just need to don our yokes and start pulling.
What does the first “pull” look like? We stand and yell when the opposing team has a third down.
Third-down conversions can make or break a game. The louder we make the environment, the harder it is for the opposing quarterback to communicate with his teammates. Play calls get lost in the noise, the play clock ticks down, the offense’s adrenaline melts into nervous energy, confidence fades and mistakes happen. Those mistakes lead to big defensive plays, which give our offense better field position — which ultimately feeds back into the crowd’s energy.
At face value this may sound like a lot of work, given the length of a football game. But consider this: BYU only had 12 third downs in our season opener. Twelve … that’s it.
You, Mr. or Mrs. Wildcat fan, can stand up and yell a dozen times. I have seen you do far more. You’ve left McKale with ringing ears, and a hoarse voice, haven’t you? I know I have.
Stand up, scream, hoot and holler, give it your all. Others will join you. How much more enjoyable would our football games be if we were that engaged? It’s not like those metal bleachers are all that comfortable. Stand up, give your backside a bit of a break while you help our defense make a stop so they can rest theirs.
You can’t change the challenges coach Kevin Sumlin inherited, or whether a tipped pass gets caught or not. But you can affect Arizona Stadium’s atmosphere. Take control of it. Take pride in that control and take responsibility for your part in the game. Push, pull, whatever it takes — let’s get this cart rolling again.
You can make Arizona Stadium a daunting place to play. You can make it easier for our recruiters to show off our fanbase to incoming talent. You can give our boys that extra ounce of energy necessary to make a stop. You can power a new era. So, will you?
Bear Down, Arizona.
