Take a moment to look at Jacobs field and chances are, unless you happen to get there when women's lacrosse is practicing, or the track team is working on its stride, you probably won't see much action taking place.
No, the deficit of teams using the field is not due in part to recent findings of radiation from WW1 weaponry testing; rather, it's due to our lack of funding from the athletic department.
Believe it or not, there was once a time in which the spirit club of AU had more than two spring teams to actually cheer for. In fact, this campus was bustling with spring athletes: baseball, tennis, golf, and men's lacrosse players.
Over time, however, the athletic department found reasons to slowly cut teams out, ultimately resulting in a shortage of athletes and games for students to cheer at.
Many may wonder what this deficiency is due to, and the truth is, I'm not so sure myself. Perhaps the money former President Ladner allegedly used to pay his private chef with came directly out of the athletic department. Or maybe AU felt it was more important to curtail the funding for teams and spend more money on various campus projects such as changing the shower heads in the dorms.
The truth is, right now, it doesn't really matter why funding was cut. What does matter, however, is that we, as students, are at a loss of teams to cheer for. At this rate, if athletic funding continues to deplete as it has, there may come a time when I really won't have any use for my red and blue pompoms.
With that said, I propose American University begins to treat the following groups and organizations as teams. Sure, their athletic skills may be arguable, but that doesn't mean I can't cheer my heart out for their participants.
First, I suggest the Blue Crew should begin sending out press releases about the debate team. No one really knows much about the debate team, in fact, I wasn't even sure if we had one. Apparently, it does exist.
Sure, the team may not have to wear protective gear to fight for its point, but it does have to study hard and know its stuff. Perhaps we can all go and watch them debate, and there can even be a Phil Bender type of debate day where everyone gets a free T-shirt.
Personally, I think everyone would really enjoy cheering for their favorite side of the argument. Plus, if the T-shirts were free, who wouldn't want to go?
Secondly, I suggest we form a protest team; a team specifically designed to protest everything. If you don't like how your chicken was cooked at TDR one night, call the protest team. All members of the team will be required to have a loud voice, excellent marching skills, and the ability to make witty signs.
Lastly, I think we should treat the College Democrats and College Republicans as teams. We can stand against the wall during their meetings and wave our pompoms. The truth is, they're pretty much like teams already.
The College Democrats are like the political version of the Red Sox: everyone seems to like them no matter what they do.
The College Republicans, on the other hand, are politics' version of the Yankees: no matter how many elections they can win, no one is going to root for them unless they were brought up in a Republican-loving household.
So, until the athletic department finds it in its heart (and bank account) to bring back all of the teams it has cut, I think we as students are going to have to get used to waving our rally towels at a new type of team: the fake one.
