Close your eyes and imagine a place where the traditions are rich, where people actually attend sporting events, where the emotions of school spirit are worn on the sleeves of students and not lamented by school officials. Now open your eyes and gasp could it be? Is that Northeastern you see?

After attending last Saturday’s football game against UMASS that’s the Northeastern I see. Picture Brady and his bunch putting the stamp on a revamped football program with a convincing win over the minutemen, 42-17. Picture 6,651 screaming Huskies making it hard for the players to hear down on the field. Picture our national champion cheerleading squad actually having people to cheer to.

Sounds good doesn’t it? That’s the Northeastern I saw last weekend and that’s the Northeastern I expect to see next Saturday when Hofstra visits. Can you see seven guys taking their shirts off and spelling out HUSKIES? Can you see a tailgate party in the Columbus Parking Lot? Can you see Coach Brown’s squad going to 4-0? I can.

For years we’ve hid behind a line of excuses. We’re a co-op school. We’re a commuter school. We don’t have a football stadium on campus. Our teams aren’t good enough. We don’t have the financial resources to compete with other schools athletically. Wah wah wah. Do you want some cheese with that whine?

The players and coaches aren’t going to make excuses and neither should we. They play for their pride and maybe we should start watching for that same reason. Let’s be proud of our athletic teams, of our cheerleading squad, of having the Dog House, which is one of the best cheering sections in the country. Whining, complaining, and bitching didn’t get us anywhere. Now let’s try the power of pride.

I’m not saying that we have to have sell outs at all home games for all our teams. Nor am I expecting people to be hanging from the rafters of Matthews Arena or tearing down the goalposts after football games. We don’t have to wear face paint or sport the school colors. All I’m saying is that for a University conscious of its public image, still searching for a new identity as we go from a commuter school to one with a campus, Saturday was certainly refreshing.

We can stop imagining a better place because it’s right before us. Now is our opportunity to build on Saturday’s momentum and create a new era of school spirit. Next Saturday I’ll be the H and bring the sausages. The buses leave from Chicken Lou’s. Go Huskies!

-Craig Shames is a middler political

science major, and Class Council Governing Board Chair.