By Kent Stein
An unscientific poll of 70 freshmen conducted by The Northeastern News in September revealed that most freshmen had attended a sports game at the beginning of the year.
At the time of the poll, only one home game had been played by the football team, indicating that the incoming students may not be as apathetic towards the sports programs as past classes.
Over two-thirds of those surveyed said they will try to attend a football game at some point during the season.
“The game is just a good place to go and hang out,” said freshman Ali Parkin.
Other students said they enjoy the atmosphere of the contest.
“There are rowdy people, we have a good team, it’s just a great environment,” said freshman Whitney Longley.
One turnoff of going to a football game, however, is the location of Parsons Field.
“I have no idea how to get to the stadium,” said freshman Laura Boyle. “I’ve heard that it’s pretty far.”
The most highly-anticipated varsity sport, however, was men’s hockey. Over three-quarters of freshmen surveyed are looking forward to attending a hockey game. Fans such as Kathleen O’Sullivan were eager for the season to begin due to the fierce competition of the Hockey East Association.
“People see our record and don’t think we’re that good,” O’Sullivan said. “But they don’t realize how good the games are, and the type of teams that we play.”
The hockey team is 1-3-0, but has yet to play any Hockey East games. The first will be Nov. 12 when they host Maine.
Many students, like Chris Kelly, do not even like hockey, yet still anticipated the season.
“I’m really looking forward to the hockey season,” Kelly said. “It should be completely insane. I hate the NHL and I don’t even follow hockey, but I’m just really looking forward to going to some games here.”
Some freshmen expressed excitement for the Beanpot hockey tournament to begin. Squaring off against Harvard University, Boston University and Boston College can make for intense rivalries, polled students said.
“I have friends at BU and BC,” said freshman A.J. Curry. “We’re going to be nuts. I’m going to be giving them so much [stuff] after we beat up on both of them. I’m hoping it gets really intense.”
The field hockey program drew fairly little interest amongst freshmen. Out of the 70 students surveyed in the poll, only six knew that Northeastern’s team is ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
However, after attending a game, Andrea Pahuta said she was pleasantly surprised at how fun the event actually was.
“I was really impressed by the atmosphere,” Pahuta said. “There were a lot of students there and everyone was cheering a lot. But none of my friends wanted to go. They figured a field hockey game would be pretty boring.”
Among the high-polling sports was men’s basketball.
“I’m looking forward to the level of the competition during the basketball games,” said Sherley Casseus . “If it’s a team that is good, and there’s lots of hype surrounding the game, the game should be crazy.”
The potential NCAA tournament run of the men’s team has some students marking their calendars.
“If somehow we make the tournament, I’d get really riled up,” Kenney said, “I’m going to follow the season up until the America East Tournament. Hopefully we’ll make a title run.”
