After the Show it's the after party
After the Show it’s the after party!
As a former member of Hampton’s Marching Force and as a supporter of HBCU sports everywhere there is one question that has always bugged me. Why is it after the half time performance by the bands does the crowd ship out like they all remembered that they forgot to pay their power bill?
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe because I’m from the northeast where marching bands aren’t really all that important. I just thought that it was odd that so many people would go to the game to leave right after half time, like nothing else even mattered. So many times I returned to my dorm only to be asked who won the game.
The reason this is such a issue is because athletics at black colleges are becoming more and more irrelevant. These schools, which not too long ago was the only place that a African-American could even participate in sports (it. Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Wilma Rudolph, Deacon Jones, Art Shell, Edwin Moses, Richard Dent, Willis Reed, and Earl Monroe, Charles Oakley). Now a lot of these schools are killing themselves trying to keep up with the Jones (i.e. the big time white schools). They are building facilities, trying to move up to a higher Division level and everything.
While I doubt that HBCU’s will ever be at the upper echelon of college athletes, I do believe that it can make its self a stronger more alluring place to be. Especially now as the MEAC and SWAC try to get more and more of their games on TV. I can’t tell you how embarrassing to see these schools schedule games in these big old 60 and 70,000 seat stadiums only to see about 20,000 people in attendance, and half of them leave after half time. Why not watch the rest of the game? Why not try to make the game the place to be instead of the meeting place to decide which party to go to afterwards. Why not make black college games a place that when nonchalant fans check out a game on TV will say, “Hey they really have something going on there. Maybe I want to go.” I guess I’m tired of the low angle broadcast and all of the production tricks to make it look like there are so many people at these games. Come on, it’s only 30 minutes to the game after half time.
As a former member of Hampton’s Marching Force and as a supporter of HBCU sports everywhere there is one question that has always bugged me. Why is it after the half time performance by the bands does the crowd ship out like they all remembered that they forgot to pay their power bill?
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe because I’m from the northeast where marching bands aren’t really all that important. I just thought that it was odd that so many people would go to the game to leave right after half time, like nothing else even mattered. So many times I returned to my dorm only to be asked who won the game.
The reason this is such a issue is because athletics at black colleges are becoming more and more irrelevant. These schools, which not too long ago was the only place that a African-American could even participate in sports (it. Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Wilma Rudolph, Deacon Jones, Art Shell, Edwin Moses, Richard Dent, Willis Reed, and Earl Monroe, Charles Oakley). Now a lot of these schools are killing themselves trying to keep up with the Jones (i.e. the big time white schools). They are building facilities, trying to move up to a higher Division level and everything.
While I doubt that HBCU’s will ever be at the upper echelon of college athletes, I do believe that it can make its self a stronger more alluring place to be. Especially now as the MEAC and SWAC try to get more and more of their games on TV. I can’t tell you how embarrassing to see these schools schedule games in these big old 60 and 70,000 seat stadiums only to see about 20,000 people in attendance, and half of them leave after half time. Why not watch the rest of the game? Why not try to make the game the place to be instead of the meeting place to decide which party to go to afterwards. Why not make black college games a place that when nonchalant fans check out a game on TV will say, “Hey they really have something going on there. Maybe I want to go.” I guess I’m tired of the low angle broadcast and all of the production tricks to make it look like there are so many people at these games. Come on, it’s only 30 minutes to the game after half time.
LOL I been wondering that for years. ANd me being in the 100 down at FAMU.. usually people saty for the 5th quarter though