Over these first two games, I, along with other fans, have noticed that the student section is not nearly as crazy as it needs to be. The will and desire of the students to watch and cheer on the basketball team is just not there.
Ninety-five percent of the student section is sitting in their seats the whole time talking to people around them and not focused on the game they came to see.
Some people may not view this as a problem, but if the students want to have the best student section in the SEC, and possibly the nation, then they need to take notice of one major thing that unites the best of the best. This thing is every great student section stands and cheers as loud as it can for every minute of every game.
When your team is down by six with three minutes left on the clock, this is not the time to say, “Well … we lost this one. It’s time to go back home and sit in front of the TV and cuss out the team for being horrible.” No. This is the time when you should be louder than ever in support of your team. The best student sections stick around for the entire game. If you want to talk the talk of wanting to be the greatest student section, then you need to walk the walk. Yes. Even during non-conference games.
Sometimes it feels like there are the select few who have the idea of what you’re supposed to do during a game. Take Ron Caulfield, or you might know him as “The Candyman.” This man is at every athletic event he can attend with his trademark bag of candy he gives out to the fans. If you have had the privilege to meet him, you will immediately know he is a die-hard Mississippi State University fan and would do anything for the team. The intensity he brings every day to the crowd is what we all ought to strive for. He is yelling his head off, losing his voice and sometimes even running around trying to get the crowd up. If students could get half of the intensity Ron has then we would be headed in the right direction.
Now don’t get me wrong here. I don’t mean this to be a completely bashing letter about how horrible we are. No. We have our high points where the crowd is extra loud for more than five seconds. If we could have the intensity of those five seconds for 40 minutes, we would be golden. If you don’t believe the players feed off of the energy the crowd supplies, then take notice. Many of the players on our own team have stated the team feeds off of everyone’s energy. Needless to say, if you really want the team to do well, then start cheering like you mean it. Don’t sit on your rear yelling at the team because it turn the ball over. Stand up, encourage the team and, if you have the self-confidence to do so, start a chant for the student section. Don’t just have the first two rows of students leading the chants.
So as I finish writing this, just remember we all need to take part in the experience of the Hump. It wasn’t so long ago the Hump was voted by the national championship team from Florida as the hardest place at which they’ve played. I just hope everyone who reads this takes it as it was meant to be. This was meant to wake up the students into realizing it takes every single person who walks through that student section gate to make the Dawg Pound the most feared student section in the Southeastern Conference.