In defense of the Princeton sports fan

In four years of being either a writer or editor for the newspaper and being a fan in general, I’ve seen most sports teams at Princeton play. (My apologies to fencing, wrestling, tennis, golf, cross country and crew.) I’ve covered big wins, celebratory moments, coaches coming and coaches leaving. I’ve written about losing seasons and blowouts, often a task made doubly difficult by my seat in press row in front of the band. (Seriously, you try writing about a loss with that guy in the white suit prancing around beside you.) But I’ve always taken a moment to notice the crowd, be it large or small.

A ‘Prince’ Opinion columnist last fall lamented the lack of fans at football games. I don’t remember his name, because I generally discount the opinions of first-semester freshman columnists on campus matters, but he makes a good point — it is a little sad that most tailgates participants don’t even make it to the game. I love drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon in the sun as much as the next guy, but let’s not forget the reason the Founding Fathers (or whoever) invented tailgates in the first place.

But his question “where have all the fans gone?” partly undersells Princetonian fandom. Go to a water polo game. Go to a volleyball game. Go to a lacrosse game. If the Jadwin Jungle seems more like a clump of trees, try three floors below — the squash match could be bumping. In an environment where there’s a lot interaction between athletes and non-athletes, people will go see their friends, their eating club companions or their roommates. This is not Georgia or LSU, where one or two sports reign supreme, which is something I think we can appreciate.

Princeton’s sports fans extend beyond our varsity athletics. We have Manchester United supporters packed in Frist Campus Center to watch Champions League soccer, people decked out in San Diego Chargers blue gathering every Sunday, hundreds of brackets filled out every March, even a devoted group of cricket fans crowded around a laptop to watch the World Twenty20 finals.

A wise man once told me to look at the Princeton homepage and see how many stories are related to athletics. Yes, there is goprincetontigers.com and the Department of Athletics’ official website, but the Princeton homepage is the first page prefrosh and like-minded curious people visit. In the more than 100 stories posted on princeton.edu this month, only two have been related to sports — one about athletes doing community service, the other when the NCAA certified Princeton’s program.

On a campus with 38 varsity sports — encompassing probably a third of the undergraduate student body — numerous club sports, intramural participants and many, many fans of all kinds, shouldn’t there be more than two stories a month about sports? Are we doing enough to bring more fanatics to Princeton?

The sports nut who is the prospective student might visit the homepage or read the ‘Prince’ and think this isn’t the place for him or her. I won’t go into some of the admission office conspiracy theories that I’ve heard, but I do hope our friends in West College continue to look at high school athletes regardless of whether they will play a sport here. Former athletes often make the best fans — and I would hate to see our sports lovers truly disappear.

But now I speak to you, Princeton’s current sports nuts. If you haven’t been to a lacrosse or volleyball or water polo game, check them out. (I am always impressed by how the polo players manage not to drown.) Most importantly, go to something, and keep going. That we can all be this smart and still have decent athletics is something to be proud of — and I hope that remains at Princeton long after I leave.