The lines outside of Davis Wade Stadium were already forming two and a half hours before kickoff. Before the visiting team had even arrived, eager MSU students with tickets, IDs and cowbells in hand were chomping at the bit to bust open the gates and take their seats to watch what would prove to be a Bulldog victory. The mad dash to claim a seat rivaled the Running of the Bulls in Spain. The running soon came to a screeching halt by an unmovable foe. The fence that normally marked our territory had now cut the student section in half. There she stood-our Berlin wall. The hearts of students just weren’t ready for this blow. First, our cowbells were taken; now our seats.
The culprit is the new permanent endzone seating, dubbed the Dawg Pound. The addition is nice, but did it have to come at the expense of already established student seating?
The Dawg Pound serves as a place for those students who want to hang out in the endzone and improve their chances of being caught on the Jumbotron, but endzone seats are not the prime place to watch a football game.
Granted, our athletic department treats students well. Baseball and basketball games are free. We pay little to nothing to get into a football game. Compare our student ticket package of $18 with that of Auburn students who have to pay $70; however, if ticket price were the issue, I think most students would rather pay a little extra to have their seats back.
The only thing wrong with last year’s season was our 3-8 record. Let’s return to the days where the student section reached from the ground to the skyboxes. Those who are in our old seats can be moved to the new upper deck. There was plenty of room there last Saturday.
Some have suggested that the band should be moved to the Dawg Pound; however, I keep having visions of Kevin Fant dropping back in the pocket, unable to find a wide-open Terrell Grindle because he’s blinded by the glare coming from a tuba in the north endzone. It’s not a chance worth taking.
There’s no good answer for the problem this year. The seats in front of us have been allotted to season ticket holders. But until an answer is found, there are a few ways the university can pay the students back.
One, stadium security should give us a break while we’re trying to find a place to sit. We are thankful for the security officers (except the cowbell police), but the crowded conditions caused some students to have no option but to spend more time than they wanted standing in the aisles.
Two, an apology in the form of reduced-priced student parking for football games would be nice. Students load their packs on their backs and trek across campus five days a week. Nobody wants to make that trip again on a Saturday, but many students found themselves carrying heavy loads across campus in search of tailgate spots. This is not an attempt to get free parking, but students and staff ought to be able to flash their Mississippi State IDs and get in these paid parking lots for half price.
Some students even reported that they were asked by university officials to move their cars from dorm parking lots to accommodate for game day traffic. No student should ever be asked to move from their place of residence for out-of-town football fans-alumni or not.
Finally, fellow students, we have a responsibility to show that we deserve our seats back. That means showing up in record numbers to support the football team. We should make the extra effort to go to all of the games that we are able to attend-home and away. We should also stay at the game until the end. Let it never be said that we cannot have our seats back because someone looked and saw that our student section was empty.
Michael Stewart is a junior philosophy and religion major.