What is wrong with Hilton Magic today? Why can’t the men draw fans like other college basketball programs?

I am a Cyclone Basketball fan, but I’m very upset with the university and how they handle the program.

Shouldn’t basketball in school be played for the love of the game and not to generate revenue?

As a freshman last year I couldn’t wait to buy men’s basketball tickets.

I saved the first $75 I got from graduation in high school just so I could buy tickets.

I auditioned for the Pep Band but didn’t make it.

Could you imagine how disgusted I felt when I was told the only seats left were in the balcony?

Not one single game down below!

I bought tickets anyway and went with a couple of friends but they didn’t even show up to every game.

Why do you think we have those big holes in the balcony?

Don’t the people who set up stadium seating realize that students won’t come to games if they are forced to sit in the balcony?

We can’t even support our peers who play ball, and there is no way THEY can hear us supporting them.

So what is wrong with Hilton Magic?

Why can’t we play like the big time teams such as North Carolina or Duke?

If the people who run the program would wake up and watch these teams play, then maybe we could bring Hilton Magic alive again.

Have they ever seen a Duke game? The people who are jumping up and down all the time are POOR COLLEGE STUDENTS such as me, not rich alumni who can afford the ticket prices.

The Duke students are right there by the players and the players can get them involved by pointing at them or acknowledging they appreciate the student fans there.

Have you ever seen any of our players point up to the balcony after a huge dunk?

No, they can’t hear the people up there cheering.

The point I’m trying to make is that Duke plays basketball for the love of the game, NOT for the ticket sales.

Why do you think they’re always there at the end of the NCAA tournament?

Because they love the game, not because they’re playing for money.

This year I made the Pep Band and I enjoy my seats, but I often look to the balcony to see where my friends are sitting. I can’t even imagine they’re having as much fun as I am.

As many of you may know, the powers that be won’t let us play chants anymore to start the games off.

To revolt against this, the band claps in an up and down motion because we want to play chants.

There is nothing I would love more than to see every single student in the balcony watch the pep band before the start of Sunday’s game against Kansas and clap like we clap.

If we can start the game off like this and have every student in the balcony involved I think the powers that be might notice that Hilton Magic is not gone, it just got moved to the balcony.

I would like to propose this to the people who decide how to set up the stadium seating.

I suggest that they get rid of the arena circle and put in bleachers like at Vets Auditorium.

Only sell these tickets to students at a very cheap price, such as $3.00, the cost of a women’s game.

Sell them like you do the lottery with lower seats where they can buy a season pass for every game in that area.

This is going to bring more students from the balcony to the floor, bring back Hilton Magic, and have a fun atmosphere like Duke’s.

Realize that college basketball is played by student athletes still in school, not professional athletes that are marketable.

Games are fun when the players can relate to the fans and the fans can relate to the players.

We all go to the same school and we all take classes.

The only difference is that some of us play ball, some of us play horns and others cheer.

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Curt Cretin

Sophomore

Agricultural studies