Sometimes it is kind of fun to complain. Nothing gets me going like a good reason to get mad. My head swims with millions of ideas and emotions while my boiling blood rushes through my veins.

Complaining en masse is even better.

People bond when they complain together.

Just think how many students like to complain about how the beef stroganoff in food service really sucks, how a certain professor is crappy with a capital “C” or the lack of concern for women’s sports and their drastic need for fan support.

Complaining is the easy part.

In the aftermath of a big complaining session, we usually all just go home and don’t do much to change what made us so unhappy.

However, this weekend you all have a chance to make your move. I’m not suggesting a revolt on food service or an ousting of poor professors.

Instead, let’s do something that will be immediately appreciated by some of our fellow students and friends. Let’s join together and create a crowd that our women’s athletic teams have never seen before!

This weekend we have two, count ’em two, chances to watch our Cyclone women kick buttocks.

The first cross country meet of the season will premier here in Ames at the lush, green ISU course out by the Towers residence halls at 4 p.m. on Friday, and the women’s volleyball team has a tournament here this weekend as well.

Cross country is one of those sports that a lot of people are afraid of attending because they don’t know how to behave.

I can understand this fear.

I have experienced that awkward moment when the runners are out of sight and the rest of the fans are milling about the course, glancing at their watches and there you are standing, not sure what to do or say.

This is why it is a good idea to attend the meet with a friend.

This brief moment can then be turned into an ideal time for discussion about the meet.

If you aren’t into following collegiate cross country runners, you still don’t have to be at loss for conversation.

Discuss your favorite uniform, the funny expressions on the runners faces as their pace quickens or how you wouldn’t be caught dead running in those bun-hugger things.

When the runners come by, it is time to yell. I can honestly tell you that this really helps.

When I ran a season of cross country, nothing made me giddy-up faster than a little shouting from the sidelines.

Even if it didn’t make me run faster, at the very least it made me keep running slowly rather than sputter to a stop, which is what my body often felt like doing at the two-mile mark.

So please, help those runners along when they pass.

If you are not a frequent attendee of such athletic events, one might wonder what motivational words to say to the runners.

Anything will work, really. “Nice job, so-and-so!” “Go after her, (insert your favorite runner’s name here), pass her!”

Something along those lines. I always would growl inside when people would say “Faster!” If they could run faster, they probably would be doing it, don’t you think?

A friend of mine always found it amusing that people often yell, “Go!” at runners in a race or meet.

He wondered if the person would stop running if it weren’t for all the fans giving him or her such vital directions.

Volleyball is also fun to watch, and you don’t have to figure out as much what to say.

In this game, you can usually just clap when something good happens, with a few hoots and hollers now and then.

I think it’s worth going to the game to watch the players jump. Vertical city!

Don’t just sit home this weekend, lamenting the fact that women’s sports teams don’t produce the fans that men’s teams do.

Let’s all become superfans this weekend. If you insist that you need a new issue to complain about, I’m sure we can come up with one.

Ever seen the bathroom line at a cross country meet?

See you on the course, superfans.

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Joanne Roepke is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Aurora.