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Support student hockey season

Letter to the editor

Published: Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Updated: Monday, January 21, 2013 22:01

To the Athletic Department:

We love Notre Dame hockey, but, during the first semester, we did not make many games due to football season, basketball games, one of us being an RA and class projects towards the end of the semester. As spring semester began, we were excited to attend the game on Jan. 18.

Our group arrived 45 minutes before game time and sat in our usual seats, the first row of section 104 (the student section balcony). Ten minutes before game time, we were informed that these seats, and all seats in the upper student section, were sold to the public. We moved downstairs to the already full lower student section, parts of which were also sold. Since the section was full, some helpful ushers relocated us and other students to standing exactly opposite of the student section. The ushers explained that the student section was not always full for games first semester. As described earlier, it is difficult for students to attend games first semester. Football takes a lot of time out of students’ weekends, and the great season made us more invested. The end of the semester is also a busy time in the classroom. It seems safe to assume more students will come to games now. It is ridiculous that you sell seats in the student section, and thus limit the seats of the students who did come (many of whom actually purchased season tickets). And worse, you called it student appreciation night! We certainly did not feel appreciated.

This offense is combined with the recent $20 service fee for the BCS ticket lottery. What could you possibly use the approximately $2 million of fees for?  The lottery was computerized! (If you need, we have Computer Science friends who would love to design a better system for you for only $1 million.)

We will continue to support Notre Dame athletics due to our love for this University and the teams, but the recent treatment of fans and the heart of the University, the students, for the sake of money has made it difficult to do so.

 

Derek Wolf

senior

Siegfried Hall

Jan. 21

 

Danny Masse

senior

Siegfried Hall

Jan. 21

 

Pat Handy

senior

Siegfried Hall

Jan. 21

 

Eric Bens

senior

off campus

Jan. 21
 

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2 comments

Derek Wolf
Tue Jan 22 2013 12:39
Mr. Wood,

I apologize for an oversight on our part. In our frustration and our attempt to stay below the word limit, we seem to have neglected a point which you have well brought up. While I stand by the points made in the letter, I agree wholeheartedly that the student body must improve its attendance to make this no longer an issue. However, on Friday I saw a student section which was more full than the rest of the stadium and a large number of students who were not able to be a part of it. Maybe we are being petty, but I'm sure you can imagine our frustration in having purchased season tickets for four years and not having a place in the section to stand in. I do not want to put words in your mouth, but I think i can assume that you would be fairly frustrated if your seat was sold to someone else because other people in your section have not been consistently attending games. I appreciate your response to our letter, and I hope we can all join together to make CFIA the best home ice in hockey.

Michael Wood
Tue Jan 22 2013 11:24
you have to be kidding me. Student support for hockey at the CFIA has dropped steadily since the place opened last season. The only games it seems to be full of students are the "big" games, against teams like BC, MSU or UM. You remind me of the student who was petty enough to feel that Joe Kernan was not a big enough name for a commencement speaker. Show up consistently, start making noise (even those of you who do show up pale in comparison to the noise level at many other college hockey venues), then if they start selling seats out from under you I'll have some sympathy. I've been a season ticket holder since the 1970s and let me tell you, when an old "townie" is a more dedicated and louder fan that many of the students, you have little room to complain.




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