The frustration of having no control over a situation and the feeling of your opinion being silenced is overwhelming. Having faith and believing everything will work out for the better is sometimes the only action you can take on such an occasion.

When I think about NAU athletics, and how every other Division I school probably rivals ours, I can’t help but feel like a brat, urged to scream, “It’s not fair!”
For instance, this past weekend I traveled down to Tucson to watch a great game of basketball between our beloved Lumberjacks and Sean Miller’s Arizona Wildcat squad. Now before you readers complain about how I am comparing apples to oranges, hold up. I can recognize NAU will never compete with UA when it comes to recruiting and aspects of that nature. This is not what I am venting about.

Because of the budget cuts and those who say athletics don’t pay its way, I realize the idea of a state-of-the-art basketball arena being built in Flagstaff probably won’t even be entertained during my enrollment here. So there is no point in beating that dead horse.

No, my beef starts with the fans. For those who don’t know, the UA men’s basketball team has been on quite the rollercoaster the past several seasons. This year, Arizona is being led by its fourth coach in four seasons. So much has changed, and there is no consistency within the program lately. The only strong pillar surrounding the program is the diligent fan base.

Realistically, UA has a young squad and will struggle heavily at some points during their season because of that. But the fans are excited about this season more than any other I can remember in a long time. They are filled with hope, and they are still crazy about their team.

Now lets look at NAU. Head coach Mike Adras has been the leader of NAU’s squad for 10 seasons now. He has been very successful here.

The Jacks have made appearances to the NCAA Tournament and NIT Tournament with Adras leading them. Under his tutelage, 24 players won all-conference accolades. How is he rewarded by the fans? Unfortunately, in my eyes, he hasn’t been.

Come on people. Besides a few random concerts, and maybe going to see a movie at the theater, what other consistent sources of entertainment do many of you have?
Please don’t reply with, “Partying.” If you did, how about you grab some friends, go down to the Walkup Skydome sometime soon to watch a game and, more importantly, support the men and/or women’s basketball team. I don’t care if you “pre-game” beforehand to spice things up, just get down there. (I lied. I really do care. Please come sober.)

I get so disappointed when I’m sitting there watching a game and can easily count how many fans are in attendance. What is the excuse? The games aren’t boring; they are on campus, and they are free.

It is a fact the play of a team is elevated when they have a big crowd to perform in front of. It is what all athletes live for. I envy UA because of its fan support. There was a sea of red, blue and white screaming fans — 13,448 of them, to be exact. I don’t even think 13,448 fans packed the Skydome during the basketball season collectively all of last year. To make it worse, UA students are chosen by raffle to see who can even buy tickets. Those tickets are viewed as gold to them.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: If you true sports fans want new stadiums, or want to watch a better quality on the field, support the team, whether we suck or not. It all starts with the fans. If people see we fans are going nuts for our teams, others will.

So for all of you who want to be entertained, go watch the Lumberjacks sometime. You can catch a glimpse of last year’s NCAA field goal percentage leader, Shane Johannsen, and a strong candidate for this season’s Big Sky player of the year, Cameron Jones. Who knows, you might just witness the next diamond in the rough.