As Hokies, we each fit in many circles that define our college experience.
Some of us are undergraduate researchers, others are involved in a multitude of activities, and still more content themselves with late nights at Deets preparing for the next morning's exam.
Yet, despite these varied interests, there is one aspect of our shared experience where we all come together: Hokie sports.
While we can all agree that football season leaves us with hoarse throats from yelling cheers and memories that will mark our college years, undoubtedly the rising success of our Hokie basketball program has made Cassell Coliseum a force to be reckoned with, as well.
In my role as SGA President, I have had the pleasure of speaking with many students about the athletic legacy we want to leave. From these conversations, one student in particular, Connor Forman, had a phenomenal insight.
"Brandon," Forman said. "We have the best fans in the nation for football. We could easily have the best atmosphere in the nation for basketball, too. There is just something missing."
Forman's observation left me wondering what that elusive "it" factor is. However, after spending hours contemplating a solution, I found myself no closer to an epiphany. Then it hit me - this is not a task for just one Hokie sports fan. If our student government is truly all about the students, why not ask all of you?
So I pose this question to you: What can we, as students, as the SGA, as athletes, and ultimately, as Hokies, do to create the best possible basketball environment here at Virginia Tech? We could make cheer cards to switch our chants when moving from offense to defense, or create an official student section called the Cassell Guard to support Hokies on Fire spirit initiatives or maybe we need to re-evaluate our student seating arrangement. But I know you have ideas too!
In an ACC comparison, Virginia Tech and Miami are the sole schools that have their student section behind one backboard. Quite possibly, all we need in Cassell is a seating adjustment, but this is not the only suggestion we can consider.
We can create the environment we envision if we use the creativity of the collective. It's us, the fans, who are the irreplaceable sixth man that the team needs and it's up to us to figure out what will make us the greatest asset possible.
This is our challenge. Let's make Cassell the loudest arena in the nation. Come by the SGA office (321 Squires), e-mail us at sga@vt.edu or call us at 540-2008-SGA and tell us what you would like to see changed at basketball games this year. Simply put, this is our fourth quarter countdown and we can win - all we have to do is beat the buzzer.
Brandon Carroll is the Student Government Association President at Virginia Tech.
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Give the students all of the close seats. It's as simple as that. Put the students as close to the floor as possible.
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It might help if the student body president realized that college basketball has two halves and not divided into quarters
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I'm not so sure the low sideline seating for students is the go-to fix. Cassell is small and steep, the perfect combination for noise. The student section can be deffening where ever it is. Plus, Cassell just isn't designed to accommodate student sideline seating unless they rip out a couple of rows. Most, if not all of arenas which have students sitting low on the sidelines have a concourse or a wall that separates them from alumni and other fans. This way students can stand the entire game and no one else in the arena is affected. Also, off the top of my head Wake Forest also has students sitting behind the baskets. The best (probably only) way to improve the Cassell atmosphere is for the team to consistently beat teams it's supposed to and make noise in the NCAA tournament. This will get people excited which will make the atmosphere for conference games and the ACC/Big 11 challenge game improve over time. As for Longwood, Gardner-Webb, and Fairfield, you're fighting a losing battle.
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When I said behind the basket, I meant only one basket...sorry about that. VT and Miami have students mainly behind one basket, while 4 other ACC schools have them on both sides.
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they are never going to rearrange seating in cassell for students. alumni are the ones donating the money, so they get the close seats, the more you donate, the better your seats, it sucks, but its the truth, they aren't going to lose thousands of dollars to put $60 student season tickets in the better seats.
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I love the enthusiasm from Anonymous right below me. Never say never? You're right. VT would never let women in - we are all-male military school. If VT thought long-term, they would understand that we would have made the NCAA tournament if students were closer to the court. Also, they would have realized that from a long-term perspective, more alumni will "donate thousands of dollars" if we win more basketball games. Anonymous (below), please stop being so negative and leave the conversation. You are hindering VT's progress.
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i'm not being negative, i'm being realistic. a university thrives on donations from alumni, they deserve the seats they get, i would be pissed if as an alumni i donated thousands of dollars and got put up in the higher seats at games, and they gave my seats to students. also, students stand at games, which i don't have a problem with, i do it as well, but they aren't going to put students in front of older alumni who are just going to get mad because they are standing, some students are respectful of alumni, i have witnessed it. i would sit if there was an older person behind me, but not everyone would, cassell is not set up in the best way honestly. i see nothing wrong with the way the seats are now, students can be all together, which is a good thing. the best solution is when there are seats available, open them up to students, like they did some last year, that way seats are being taken, but students get the benefit of still being able to go, when season ticket holders can't make it
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Anonymous at August 16: Please send me an e-mail at brandoncarroll@vt.edu -- I'd love to sit down with you and look over the feasibility of several ideas. It is important to be a realist in this situation, so I commend you for that.
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Any alum who doesn't feel the students deserve closer seats doesn't deserve the seats they are in regardless of donation. A college without donations will find a way for students to learn. A college with donations but no students is not a college. I am an alumnus and I fully feel the students deserve the best seats
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I have to say the atmosphere in Cassell has gotten better each of the past four years I've been there. It can definitely be a lot louder though to eventually rival Cameron Indoor. It's been a goal of mine to help make that happen. Why not put the cheerleaders somewhere else and put a large group of us down there between that wall and one basket? There's enough room down there where we can easily pack it in. Georgia Tech has that exact same setup and it wouldn't require any changes at all. It's a no-brainer.
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I agree. Exactly.
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