I have been told by the Athletics Department that ‘Now is the Time.’ I have been told to get to games to receive my Ncentives points. I have seen the progress of our athletics teams and I admit I generally like what I see.

But Saturday I saw something I did not like. Actually, I never saw it at all.

I was prepared to call the football team’s game against Youngstown State Saturday afternoon for WRBB radio. I arrived at Chicken Lou’s at 11:30 a.m. to catch one of the buses to Parsons Field. I was extremely encouraged to see the group of people around me waiting. Saturday was a beautifully sunny day, not too hot, not too cold ‘- in a sense, perfect football weather. Despite the Huskies’ 0-2 record, the NU Pep Band was there along with students, parents, alumni and Parsons staff. It seemed everyone was excited for the game and couldn’t wait to get to the field.

But that’s exactly what we did. We waited, and waited, and waited. Soon 11:30 a.m. became 11:45 a.m., which became 12 p.m., which became 12:15 p.m. The growing crowd was becoming nervous. Where was the bus? We got the people at Chicken Lou’s to call someone at the field, and we were promised the bus was in transit. So we waited some more. Finally, by 12:45, the time I was supposed to be on air for the game, I hailed a taxi with some strangers to Parsons and arrived literally seconds before kickoff. I noticed the pep band chose to jump on the T and then walk the remainder of the way to Parsons. Some people decided to just walk over themselves. We were all now responsible for our own transportation to the game, which should have been provided for us.

I’d like to believe this was just a one time mistake, but plain and simple, this is completely unacceptable. Saturday was a great opportunity for the school to get people to see the football team, which struggles with attendance due to the distance of the field from campus. I cannot comprehend how this error occurred. The Athletics Department tried to organize a shuttle for people to go to Matthews Arena for hockey games, which is no more than a 10 minute walk from almost anywhere on campus. This service is provided, yet no bus is provided for the football game at Parsons, which is at least 20 minutes away from campus on foot. I guess we can chalk this up to the complete lack of attention the football team gets, already fighting an uphill battle anyway.

Next time NU Athletics, will you at least meet me half way?

‘- Patrick McHugh is a middler journalism major and member of The News staff.