Fans wanted

With the first Princeton–Penn basketball game already lost and then the team's surprising loss to Brown on Friday night, the dream of Princeton qualifying for the NCAA tournament has become somewhat hazy. So now that the bandwagon's slowing, what is the real use of going to a Princeton basketball game?

I fear that this thought process has gone through far too many Tiger fans this season. This lack of fan support is starting to make Princeton basketball games seem more like Princeton football games, where the student support is so dismal that the only people cheering are the alums, parents and the band.

Being the night of Valentine's Day, I realize that Friday's game against Brown is not the best night to gauge fan support, but then why was the turnout at Saturday's game against Yale about the same? I don't think that the majority of Princeton basketball fans are so romantic that they need to turn Valentine's Day into a full weekend affair. Was the game not crowded because of the opponent? Yale basketball has not been strong for the past couple of years, but the Elis are still one of Princeton's biggest rivals.

All fall when people criticized Princeton's fan support for football, the common excuse was that the team could never win an Ivy title so what's the use of going. While that statement can be debated, it does nothing for explaining why this weekend's basketball games were so empty. Yes, now the Tigers are a good distance behind Penn in the Ivy standings, but they are certainly not out of the race.

I am going to differ with many other Princeton fans and say that Jadwin gym is one of the worst places ever to watch a college basketball game. When I compare it to great basketball venues such as Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium or Maryland's former home, Cole Fieldhouse, it makes me jealous because we have to watch our team play in the airplane hangar that is Jadwin. Syracuse has a similar set up in the Carrier Dome, but at least they try to make it look like a basketball stadium, unlike Jadwin which just looks like a court surrounded by an indoor track.

But even Jadwin's impersonality and lack of character should not be enough to leave Princeton's already small student section both half empty and silent.

Now with a 5-2 Ivy League record, the Tigers stand in third place behind Penn and Brown. But the Tigers' Ivy League season is only half over and Penn and Brown both remain on Princeton's upcoming schedule, including Princeton's regular season finale with Penn at Jadwin on Tuesday, March 11th. There are still three more home Ivy games and Princeton fans have a chance to redeem themselves.

It is hard to say what the Tigers' Ivy League title chances will look like, but right now is way too early to count out a very talented team. I can not promise an Ivy title, but I think that the student body owes this team support in its hour of need.