I would normally use this space that the Villanovan has so generously given me for the past two and a half years to talk about how proud I am to be a Villanova student, watching my classmates and friends show the country how good Villanova is, and just how great we can be. I would applaud this year’s seniors for building such a remarkable program. Heck, I’d probably compliment Coach Wright on how great his suit looks.

Aren’t you going to do the same this week, Phil?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Because this week, I’m not going to. Yes, I am proud of this basketball team. I’ve been proud of them since Christmas Break last year. Yes, I am still looking forward to friends asking me what it’s like to go to the school with the best team in the nation

The word “comatose” is good word for what I’m going to describe. The word “indifferent” may be a little better. It’s like I’m playing the $100,000 Pyramid here, and many students know what I’m describing when I use words like “bored”, “unexciting”, or “jaded”.

If you guessed, “The Season Ticket Area at the Villanova Basketball Games”, you’d be absolutely right. Next square.

I enjoy watching college basketball, not just for the games, but to see the atmosphere that the game has around it. I was watching the North Carolina-Illinois game the other night, and you know what I saw in the crowd? The season ticket holders standing up and cheering. That’s right folks. It does happen.

But it doesn’t happen here, and that’s what I’m angry about. What does the nation see when they watch a Villanova game? Well, certainly not the students, that would be too easy and too obvious. What do prospective students see? What do recruits see? Sure, they see a good team, but they also see fans who look like they were forced to be at the game.

They don’t see the real Villanova, the crazy student section that could, with a little help from Athletics, be the most intimidating student section in the country. But they can’t, because we’re hidden, behind a basket that’s never shown.

That puts quite a lot of pressure on the season ticket holders – or STHs, as I like to call them – to bear the burden of trying to cheer and representing our school for what it really is. Heaven forbid they should stand up and support the team when there’s 30 seconds left and we’re up by two. Oh, and stay the WHOLE, ENTIRE game? What a chore. At least that’s what they make it seem like.

I always like to wave goodbye to the STHs who leave with 10 minutes left in the game. Hey, I just want to make sure they drive safely. Hopefully they’ll listen to the game in the car on the way out (But not likely).

Here’s an idea: maybe they could actually chant “NATION” when they’re supposed to. That would make the cheer even better. Right now, it sounds like, “NOVA”…”nation”. Now that’s what I want to see if I’m a recruit! There’s no way Duke can beat that. Oh, and that other team is probably really intimidated by those fans around the court that yell and scream and try to cheer for Villanova.

It’s not Villanova Athletics’ fault that the STHs look like they’d rather be at a wake than at a basketball game. They’ve tried to get them to cheer. They’ve tried to pep them up. But it just doesn’t work. They just don’t want to stand up and cheer at an exciting sporting event. It took one full minute of chanting, “ON YOUR FEET” just to get them to stand up with a minute left at the BC game. That’s sad. And just mentioning to an STH that Villanova wants to move the students to the area surrounding the court will cause said STH to have a seizure.

But there are students out there that I want to talk to. I want to talk to you, person who wears Notre Dame sweatshirt at a Villanova game. I want to talk to you, guy who wears Boston College t-shirts everyday like it’s his only article of clothing. I want to talk to you, little miss “I wear a Georgetown hat everyday”. News flash: you go to Villanova. You don’t go to Notre Dame. You don’t go to Boston College. And you sure as hell don’t go to Georgetown. Sorry, but we’re not as pretentious and not nearly as overrated.

I also want to talk to the students who left the first two games of the season early. I don’t care if you have somewhere to be. I don’t care if you have a 15 page paper due tomorrow. If you’re a true fan, you’ll stay the whole game. Bottom line. You’re probably the same student who won an Oklahoma ticket. And you’ll leave early from that too. But hey, it’s ok! You saw your best friend on the dance team at halftime!

But I have one thing to say to all of you, to the STHs, to the students who think they go to another school: If you’re not using your Oklahoma ticket properly, please give it to me. I’ll find a student who will: 1) cheer 2) wear VILLANOVA merchandise and 3) stay the whole game. I’ll give it to someone much, much more deserving of that ticket. Believe me, it will be appreciated, both in the student section and on the court.

But I’ll still be behind the band. We’ll still cheer in our bleachers of exile. And until the STHs start getting with the program, we’ll be happy to pick up the slack.