Patriots win, but no one sees it

If you happen to read to sports page each week I’m sure you have noticed the University’s athletic department is pretty good.

From softball to cross country, every sport each year is in contention for a playoff spot and possibly more, and the sad part is no one is there to witness it.

No one is a little over the top, but I’ve been covering sports for the Talon since November of 2008 and attending games since I began school here in the fall of 2007. And in that time span I have seen one sell out crowd.

That occurred in the first round of the women’s basketball conference tournament against Mary Hardin-Baylor in the spring of ‘08. The Patriots won their division and hosted the tournament. Unfortunately, they lost a heartbreaker, 75-74.

But the best part about the game was the electricity that filled the Herrington Patriot Center, the cheer that followed every basket and every rebound, and the support that each and every fan gave.

Since that game, I have yet to see one where fans filled the seats and lived and died with every play, and the times when most people show up is when free stuff is being given away.

My favorite example is the Thursday night the University gave money to the sorority or fraternity who had the most people show up to a basketball game.

And sure enough the section under the “Greeks back the Pats” was filled to the brim for the first and only time of the season.

I’m not trying to point out just the Greeks. Same thing goes for the game when everyone who shows up gets a free T-shirt.

So, since this is the sports page, here are the facts according to the University’s athletic website: the Herrington Patriot Center has a capacity of 2000, Irwin Field and Citizen’s First Bank-Perkins Complex 1000 and UT Tyler Softball Field 500.

The average attendance to a men’s home basketball game this past season was 482, and 362 to a women’s home basketball game.

So far this season, the average attendance to a home baseball game is 313 and 236 to a home softball game.

That comes out to a total average of 30 percent to any given University home sporting event. If professional sports teams and larger colleges only sold 30 percent of their tickets they might have to close their doors.

So please hear my cry. Come support the number 3 ranked softball team in the country and the defending champions of the American Southwest Conference and their region.

Come cheer on the baseball team that lead its division by two games and is defending the conference crown.

Come scream for the basketball teams who qualify for the conference tournament nearly every season.

Come root for the teams of our University who put their hearts and souls into the sport they love to play.

Come, grab a friend and spend a Saturday afternoon in the sun at one of the nicest sporting facilities for free!

Come, because maybe that two out rally will produce four runs instead of three, or that 10-0 run will become a 15-0 run.

Come, because sometimes the joys of winning are best shared with the ones who show up and don’t want to leave when it’s over.