Recently, I was watching Sportscenter on ESPN and there was a segment about something called "The Curtain of Distraction." This so called "Curtain of Distraction" was as literal as the phrase comes. During Arizona State basketball games, whenever the opposing team is shooting free throws on the side where the students sit, there is a curtain set up that only opens up whenever a opposing team player is shooting free throws. What comes out of those curtains are some of the most hilarious and original set pieces to grace a college basketball court. Whether it's famous skits with a fresh twist or something outlandish such as a "Unicorn Love Story," the curtain distraction has definitely made it's rounds in the national media spotlight.
Why do I bring up "The curtain of distraction"? If someone from another university who has never attended a Texas Tech basketball game or any athletic event that is most likely to include traditions asked you, "What's the student section like?" or "What are your traditions?"... What would you say?
We all know about Will Rogers and Soapsuds, The Masked Rider, Victory Bells, Raider Red and, if you paid attention at orientation, The Double-T Bench. These are all traditions I love dearly and who isn't wowed by The Masked Rider bolting down the football field to lead out the team? These traditions are almost as old as the school is. These are the ones everyone should know whether you're a student or fan. The ones I want to talk about are the ones that have yet to be created.
It wasn't too long ago that ESPN's Jake Trotter declared us the best Student Section is the Big 12 and USA Today ranking us 10th in the nation for student attendance, an impressive and boast worthy accomplishments. In basketball, we hosted 4,000 students for a match up against Kansas. Yes, strength in numbers is very impressive and it's something everyone should be proud of. What we do with those numbers is what you should you be thinking about.
Football games where we boast large numbers of students attending is an impressive sight, but what would be far more impressive is if we had more chants to sing, more student interactions, something to distinguish us from every other school in the country and make our stadium a must-see experience.
Basketball is the same exact sight. Our numbers are impressive but it is what we do with those numbers that would put us in the national spotlight just like ASU has done. I firmly believe that we can surpass anything that ASU has done or any school for that matter. The proof is in the records we have broken already.
It starts with you.
You, the die hard fan who calls for a better student section than it already is. It starts with the initiative to make Texas Tech university a school that knows how to do traditions right. We have quite the arsenal already, traditions that are true to the mission of Texas Tech but who says that we have to stop right there? Where does it say that we cannot create many more traditions that we will pass down to the generations of students that will attend this fine university? This is a call to arms aiming at the student section. I am part of those impressive numbers and that is a great experience. I want something more, I want to be better than UT, A&M and OU. What we have as the student section is an opportunity to collaborate together as one giant community and create something that will continue for more than the few years we have here. We have the opportunity to create traditions that will make our school stand out from the rest, a school that will draw more prospective students just becasue we're THAT student section. Let's not waste this chance, it starts with one person having an idea and then the support from their fellow Red Raiders. We could be a part of something more if we let it happen.
So the question is, what will we do with this opportunity?
