Jaguar Nation only applies to football

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – If it were a football tournament everyone would have made the trip. Not hating on the football team, just the fans.
Southern women’s basketball team won the SWAC tournament championship and no one but the 26 parents and siblings of the players were present to support them out of the 1,189 spectators in Fair Park Arena. The game felt like it was a road game down in the delta in Itta Bena, Miss, instead of a neutral site tournament.
The “Jaguar Nation” is not symbolic to every sport. Rain, sleet, hail or snow, fans would show up to sit on the hard uncomfortable seats so that they could watch the football team play. The football team went to Las Vegas and I know it was people in SGA vying for a seat to get on the plane. Granted that it is midterm week and people want to study, the women did play in a quarterfinal game on Wednesday and a semifinal game on Friday. But they made it to the big game and that was on Saturday.
We do have midterms in football season too, and I know people didn’t go to class during homecoming week, or for Bayou Classic, which is around finals.
I can understand depleted funds, we have all been there.
The Fairfield Inn Marriott was 5 minutes away from the Fair Park Arena and $55 a night. Oh and carpooling is still environmentally safe.
The Jaguar men’s basketball team lost their first game on Thursday night and they played the game well, one of their best all season. I thought they would accept the defeat and move on. Apparently they didn’t because Friday at noon they were eating lunch and headed back to Baton Rouge instead of cheering the women’s team on at their 10 a.m. game. Churches chicken was a proud sponsor of the game, so the chicken was FREE! Then they could have made their trip home.
Just because they were mad over the lost, everyone else had to be disappointed too. NOT! Get over it, there was only one senior on their team, so everyone else is coming back. No.1 women’s team of Alabama State was expected to run everyone over at the tournament. They were upset in the first round by No. 8 Mississippi Valley, but they stayed the entire tournament to support their men’s team and everyone else, including Valley.
Also, before the games they publicly recognized school administrators in attendance. The SWAC office made it a point to look for administrators. Every school had somebody to stand up for them, except Southern. The highest ranking official from Southern was Deborah Paul, the seniors women’s administrator from the athletic department. We know that Floyd Kerr the Southern athletic director is on the NCAA men’s selections committee so he had an excuse. For everyone else only a valid doctors excuse will be acceptable.
At the beginning of the championship game Commissioner Robert Vowels Jr. and Mississippi Valley’s president, Dr. Lester Newman did a special presentation of the game ball to the referees. Also present was Alabama State president, Dr. Joe Lee, he was there for the entire tournament. No one with the academic title of Dr. was present from Southern.
The Jaguar Journal Radio Show was a no show, and so was the Quarterback Club, Jaguar Athletic Group and the Blue & Gold Club. The members that did make it from the 6th Man Club you could count them on your hand and they left when the men lost.
Mississippi Valley fans came because they were watching their No 1 seeded men play and no one in their right mind at the tournament expected the Valley women to make it out of the first round, let alone make it to the championship round. Those players are still probably thinking their dreaming. But when the Valley men were knocked out the first day, they stayed and supported their women.
Last but not least, word was out everywhere that people were looking for Southern to be in the finals so they could see the “Human Jukebox”. I was giving them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they were waiting for the championship game and was going to show up all out of the blue to surprise everyone and give something for the haters to talk about. I am still waiting as the Valley fight song still continues to ring in my head.
Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley had bands and cheerleaders at the game. Texas Southern had a dance team and cheerleading squad plus a student support group of about 25 with a drum. Alcorn State had its cheerleaders.
No cheerleaders, mascot, dancers nor a band member showed up from Southern. But they like to request special seating in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Now I bet everyone wants to hop on the bandwagon for the big dance. News flash, NCAA is just looking for the women’s basketball team not socialites.
All in all the DIGEST staff was there to cover every play of every game. It was four amazing games a day for three days, and two on the last, we covered them all. Two writers and two photographers, all over the arena like ants. Before the second day everyone, the people in charge, officials, and even down to the last water boy knew us on a first name basis and complimented us on our Internet coverage of each game. We even got a shout out on the SWACpage for the best coverage of the tournament.
I would like to send my congratulations out to the championship women’s basketball team on a very well played season. Coach Sandy Pugh said all year that Southern was the most dangerous team going into the tournament. You guys are young and talented, so continue to do it again next year, if you believe in yourself that’s what counts.
Until then The DIGEST will be in the stands sending back the best coverage in the SWAC. Now I have to find the shortest route to Austin, Texas.
Tootles