Let me take you to a Northwestern home football game in the late 1970s. The stands aren’t full. If we’re playing Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois or Notre Dame, odds are they have more fans in our stands than we do. On those days, sadly, purple is not the dominant color in old Dyche Stadium.
In the student section, there are large patches of empty seats. We have a tradition to “pass people up” in the stands, but they don’t go very far. My senior year, my friends lifted me and started to pass me up, but after a few rows, I came thudding down because no one was there.
And that was in the first half. By the second half, things only got worse. Those of us who did come to the game often left in the third quarter to go to the library, especially if we already were losing by three or four touchdowns.
Is it any wonder we cheered the way we did when I was an undergrad from 1976-80?
