Much has been made of the Virginia men's basketball team's sudden ability to cause students to forego classes en masse and camp out for better seats at University Hall. It's nice to see that the Cavaliers once again can boast fan support worthy of their winning record, but if wins are what it takes to bring fans into the stands, the Virginia men's lacrosse team also should be packing them in. Instead, men's lacrosse has a small, albeit loyal, following despite being the No. 6 team in the country and a perennial NCAA title contender.
Frankly, I'm ashamed. Lacrosse may not be a "glory" sport like football or basketball, but at a school with one of the top lacrosse programs in the nation, fan support should be better than the 983 that showed up to see the Cavaliers open the season against Towson on Feb. 24. Subtract the number of family members in the stands, and how many lacrosse fans are you left with? For comparison, No. 1 Syracuse drew 4,221 to its opener against Colgate a day earlier.
It's just Towson, you say? When Syracuse came to Klšckner Stadium last year in a battle between the top two teams in the nation, 4,643 fans showed up. But when the Cavaliers traveled to New York State last Saturday, the Orangemen more than doubled this number as 10,489 packed the Carrier Dome.
This is the same Virginia team that won the ACC title in three of the past four seasons. This is the same squad that won the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and reached the semifinals last season. This is the same outfit that graduated the past two national players of the year, Tucker Radebaugh and Drew McKnight. But apparently, no one is watching.
It should not be for lack of exposure to the sport. The University draws many of its students from the Baltimore-Washington and New York-New Jersey areas, two locales known as lacrosse hotbeds. Eighteen members of the men's lacrosse team are from the Baltimore-Washington area and nine are from New York or New Jersey. These 27 players comprise nearly three-quarters of the team.
It should not be for lack of excitement. Lacrosse incorporates the bone-crushing hits football fans yearn for and the pinpoint passing and one-on-one battles that give basketball fans so much to cheer about. Supercharge these ingredients with a dose of speed, and you should have a recipe that sports fans cannot resist.
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But the Virginia fans are resisting. Despite their recent success, the Cavaliers have not filled Klšckner stadium to the brim. If you arrive at the game on time, or even 5-10 minutes late, you still will find a decent seat. This should not happen in an upper echelon lacrosse program.
To be fair, Virginia's fans are improving. Last year's average of 2,131 fans per game almost doubles the 1,250 from two years ago, but Cavalier fans still have a ways to go. Syracuse averaged 5,348 fans last season. Both schools have decorous lacrosse traditions and a student base of about 10,000 undergraduates, yet the Orangemen consistently outdraw the Cavaliers more than 2-1.
As the Virginia men's lacrosse team sets its sights on a fifth NCAA Championship, I urge all Virginia students to show one of our most storied teams some support. If there ever were any doubts about the importance of fan attendance, the Virginia men's basketball team has erased them. Take the unbridled enthusiasm and pride exhibited before, during, and after the UNC and Duke basketball games across Alderman Road, and show the lacrosse world what Virginia fans are all about. Now that you've transformed University Hall into the most feared home site in the ACC, it's time to do the same for Klšckner Stadium. I'll see you there when the men's lacrosse team plays its first game after Spring Break against Denver on March 18.
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