Why we can’t have nice Homecoming things
One comment on a post detailing this week’s homecoming activities complains that Columbia doesn’t provide “standard university” experiences. In case you don’t click the link, basically the point is that there’s not enough officially sanctioned booze. I don’t think anyone will disagree with that, but from my point of view, it’s our fault too.
As far as standard homecoming experiences are concerned, we can’t ignore the excuse to have any festivities in the first place: college football. Hailing from the Southeast, I have a pretty good idea of what football culture is like at “standard” universities. I know this is a huge surprise, but we don’t have it.
People who don’t go here aren’t fans of Columbia football. People who don’t go here (and probably most people who do) don’t know anything about our players. I’m sure there are students who have no idea what a Bowl Game is.
I mean, look at our stadium. First of all, I think my high school might have a nicer scoreboard. Additionally, that inferior scoreboard is pretty far removed from campus.
I don’t know if anyone has ever been down to Athens, but Sanford Stadium looms ominously right in the middle of UGA’s campus. It also seats over ninety thousand people. Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium, besides trying to make too many people happy with its name, seats seventeen thousand and requires a subway trip of at least 100 blocks to get to. Do people even go to home games? At UGA, people fight to get tickets to home games in lottery system draws.
Based on our actions, we don’t care about football here—we don’t have that culture. I’m not making a judgment either way, just stating a fact. If we want homecoming activities like they have at other universities, maybe we should act like “standard university” students and go to football games on occasion.
While some students obviously do attend games, a vast majority of students here don’t. What were you expecting?
Katie Crane is a junior in SEAS who is letting her Southern roots show. Bring me some Publix sweet tea and get me to the nearest WaHo PRONTO.
of having a nice scoreboard if you don’t have any points to put on it?
We are a school for smart kids, not for drunk athletes and partiers
I’d like to think that people here aren’t stuffy jerks who look down on a tailgate.
People who go to USC games don’t all like football, they go for the experience. The administration here has done virtually everything possible to make sure that the “experience” of going to a Columbia football could not be worse. The stadium is far away and the team sucks. If there was booze, better festivities, etc, maybe we could mitigate those factors. The administration is providing a horrible product and then complaining no one is buying.
“Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium” at Baker Athletics Complex.
this always leads to the pretentious square off of WE’RE INTELLECTUALS AND ONLY DRINK AT SYMPOSIUMS OF WINE AND CHEESE AND THINK GETTING WASTED IS PLEBEIAN people versus WE ARE BOTH STREET SMART AND BOOK SMART AND OUR GRADES CAN AFFORD US GETTING WASTED EVERY WEEKEND people.
neither group is wrong nor right.
but they must coexist.
if you don’t think kegs fit into plato’s republic, then just don’t drink from them. but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have them.
ugh shut up
I think if you actually went to the homecoming game you would have a great time. Win or lose, it is a lot of fun and will make your Columbia experience that much better.
Don’t be so negative and give it a try!
Columbia needs to provide free buses to and from the games and Baker Field.
uh they do provide buses – do they not?
Anyway, the 1 train is incredibly easy to take to the game. Try it out! We might win…
The subway goes door to door.
or is “door to door” really the best phrase you could come up with for the subway making frequent stops?
I went to a home football game a couple of years ago, beautiful sunny day, and it looked like there were as many fans on the visitors side as on the Columbia side. OK, the visitors were Cornell, which a large alumni base in New York. There were a lot of young parents with little kids decked out in Cornell colors.
But guess what? Columbia won! Cornell was ahead for most of the game, but Columbia pulled it out in the end.