Jonathan Says

AROUND CAMPUS

When I first heard the plan to move the student sections away from the sidelines and mainly under the baskets at the Siegel Center, I had mixed emotions. On one hand (the journalist hand), I would be able to watch basketball games and take notes without hearing the constant jabbing at the referees. One the other hand (the student and fan hand), I felt that something definitely would be missing.
After sitting through the Virginia State exhibition and the opener against The Citadel, my student and fan side has won out. As I sat at the media table, I couldn’t help but notice how empty and less rowdy the “C section” was. I couldn’t help but notice the number of seats that belonged to season-ticket holders that were left empty. Most of all, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of noise being generated from the sideline section, or at all. That’s right students-I’m saying you haven’t been so hot thus far either.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that it’s great that there is enough interest in the VCU basketball program for there to be an increase in ticket sales, especially of the season-long variety. However, the students are the reason the Siegel Center has been such a tough place to play since it opened. The students are the ones that are always shown on ESPN or Comcast. The students are the ones that show up hours early to get a seat to game that may or may not be sold out to begin with. The students deserve better and so does the Siegel Center.

NBA

I have to give Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban a big pat on the back. It is a bold move to call a government agency – like the Securities Exchange Commission – a liar. Whether they are true or not, the recent allegations of insider trading are a major black eye for Cuban. His quick and pointed response did not surprise me, but it did confuse me. Cuban’s personality fits the mold of someone to make such a drastic statement in the face of the government. However, did he not learn a lesson from another group of sports individuals in the past few years? Did Cuban not watch Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire tell lies in the face of Congress, just to have things flipped on them later? I’m not saying the man is guilty (after all, he is innocent until proven so), but I do find it interesting that he did not take greater care not to say anything that he would later regret.