Bowling Green is full of pride and school spirit – or it would be if the Falcon colors were red and silver and the two mascots were Freddy and Frieda Buckeye.
In recent months, some students have noticed a lack of school spirit here at the University.
“If pride were a water supply, then Bowling Green would be in the middle of a massive drought,” freshman Kyle Gutek said.
Gutek’s opinion isn’t shared by all, however.
“I think a lot of people are more likely to root for Ohio State and Michigan because they’re good on a yearly basis,” freshman Katie Bennett said.
She went on to say if Bowling Green wants packed stands, the team shouldn’t lose by 56 points on cable television, referring to the University’s football team’s recent loss in the GMAC Bowl.
School spirit can be important for a number of reasons. For instance, more fan support may result in better performances by Falcon sports teams.
The evidence that having fans present at home games is there, as it has been said for years that teams can feed off of the energy of a home crowd.
This was apparent at a BGSU hockey game in December, when the Falcons almost pulled off an upset against No. 2 Michigan University in front of a crowd of nearly 4,000.
The opposite end of that spectrum also appears to be evident, as seen in a men’s basketball game in December, where the Falcons lost a home game to lowly Illinois State.
The loss happened in front of a crowd that didn’t fill half of Anderson Arena.
Aside from Falcon sports teams performing better at home, students can also benefit from school spirit in that it could give them a sense of belonging here at the University.
“I think more people would come to support teams if half of the students on campus didn’t go home every weekend,” freshman James Cassill said.
“It’s awkward and sad when you go to games and you see Freddy and Frieda going crazy, trying to get the crowd to do something, and then the crowd looks like it doesn’t have a pulse,” sophomore Eric Renner said.
USG’s Orange and Brown campaign set out with the ultimate goal of generating a higher level of school spirit, but in the opinion of many, has seen very little results.
Several people interviewed for this story weren’t even aware of the campaign’s existence.
“It must not be working,” freshman Bobby Mida said.
Sophomore Samantha Kendall agreed, saying, “At the beginning of the year, I think it [the Orange and Brown Campaign] must have been going well because you’d see orange everywhere, but it seemed like when football season ended, you didn’t see hardly any orange or brown around campus.”
Some students try to keep the pride alive, though.
“Even if leaving games early so you can watch Ohio State on television is the really cool thing to do, I’m still staying for the alma mater,” freshman Nathan Whitman said.
Whitman also stated he’d like to see more people taking pride in the University because even though BGSU is not at the same level as Ohio State, it’s still better than a lot of other schools.
Until that happens, though, it appears that it will be: Go O-H-I-O, and BGSU too.
