Picture this: Centennial Commons filled with “tailgaters” eating burgers and swigging down Cokes. Then they leave for a football game. After a few minutes walk they are in their seats cheering on the team.

A student could wake up, dress in red and black, jog to the stadium, meet up with friends and wave pom poms, all without having to go to Brookline.

That football fantasy could be football reality if Northeastern built a stadium close to campus and didn’t cut the football program.

That reality hangs on the outcome of an athletic budget overhaul that might eliminate one program to free up money for others. It’s rumored that this season could be the last season for the football team.

In some areas of the country, football is the lifeblood of the university. Win or lose, thousands of fans cheer tirelessly for their team.

Look at Vanderbilt University. It is a renowned university whose football team struggled in the past, only recently becoming competitive. But for years, fans cheered for losing teams, and now they are one win away from going to a bowl for the first time in 25 years.

Nothing’s wrong with taking pride in what you have, and we should cheer for our own football team ,even when they lose.

Northeastern spirit is growing steadily, even if the Huskies are 1-7. From what I can see, more spirit exists today than existed four years ago. It’s OK to root for a team without a winning record; after all, Sox fans were without a pennant for 86 years.

School spirit derives from the characteristics of Northeastern nation, which are the qualities that comprise the Northeastern student body.

While there’s no one word or set of words that defines students on campus, it is the shared experiences that contribute to the Northeastern identity.

The administration shouldn’t think that because the university climbed in the rankings, school spirit is an inevitable student body response.

While an improving academic reputation does foster greater respect, the university met national criteria to receive that standing.

School spirit on the other hand stems from memories associated with campus activities. Students may think fondly of college: favorite professors, good friends and fun parties. But those memories do not directly correlate to enthusiasm for the university.

School spirit is abound on athletic teams. The students on the teams are Huskies. They wear the jersey and they play for Northeastern. They are the school’s athletic ambassadors who compete against other schools.

Every time the football team takes the field, they are representing Northeastern’s drive to succeed. So what if they lose? They took time out of their life to show up and play for the university.

But that dedication might not be enough.

If everything that faltered was shut down, then someone else would be playing the Colorado Rockies this year in the World Series because the Red Sox definitely had some bad runs. But Red Sox Nation persistently had faith even when the wins passed them by.

And yet the school may cut the football program in order to allocate additional funds to teams that are winning. Will the team that has the money reallocated to them be scrapped if they start losing?

Now that’s an excellent motto: You don’t win, you don’t play.

Every fall I said this was the year I would go to a football game. Then Saturday morning rolls around and if I remember that it’s game day, I don’t know how I would get there.

Maybe I’m just uninformed, but it seems that Homecoming is the only time shuttles are publicized.

Advocating for the team without attending a game does not make me a hypocrite. It makes me a student with no personal investment in football, but one who still wants the team to survive and sees the benefits of having such a team.

It’s outrageous that fellow students who play and love the team might become victims of the slashing red pen. To me, that’s unsportsmanlike.

Trading in one sport for the benefit of a few others says that the university cares only if the team brings in results.

Cutting football, or any other sport for that matter, is not in the university’s best interest. It doesn’t matter if every season brings home a title. What does matter is the potential for the future.

With the way Northeastern is expanding, cutting the football team is an illogical maneuver. The university should not eliminate next season over this season’s budgeting issues.

Stop the game and save the sport.

– Holly Fletcher can be reached at [email protected]