STAFF EDIT: Stay tuned to sports over break

With the onset of the holiday season, the college sports world is faced with decreased attendance and falling interest in its teams. As students, faculty and alumni congregate in celebration, young athletes across the land play day-in and day-out before television cameras and a nation comfortably reclining in its Lay-Z-Boy.

Though Boston University students leave the city for the holiday break in the middle of December, BU athletics take no hiatus. And while most people go far away from the Charles River campus, making it harder for them to keep up on Terrier sports teams, there should be a heightened effort from the promotions and athletic departments to alert fans about action over the holiday break.

Besides the ability of students who live locally to attended games, BU Sports Information Director Ed Carpenter believes the school’s athletic website offers an invaluable resource for the rabid sports fan. Carpenter said there is no excuse on the part of students to not know what is going on in the world of BU athletics during the break. All one would have to do is sign onto the Internet and click to the athletic website, he said.

Carpenter’s idea speaks to the hardened sports fan that cannot go more than three weeks without Terrier athletics. For those who want to listen live to BU sports, nearly every hockey and men’s basketball game is broadcast in real time online.

But what about the casual fan who forgets to check the website?

One possible option is having students sign up for mailing lists for individual sports. If someone wanted to get the game story from the men’s basketball game in their email box, they could access the athletic website and input their email address.

The reason coverage should be better over break is because fewer spectators are around to watch the games. Therefore, stories about the events will be read more often. But in an effort to draw more fans to games, the promotions department should think of ways to attract students who live close enough to return to campus. Free giveaways always attracts college students, and fans have shown in the past that T-shirts, visors, towels and free food nearly guarantee high turnout.

With the disappointing fall season over, students should be primed for a successful winter sports campaign. The hockey team is consistently ranked in the top 15, the men’s basketball team is again vying for an NCAA Tournament bid and the women’s basketball team hosts non-conference powerhouse Stanford University at Case Gymnasium on Dec. 21. The hockey team usually plays in a tournament away from home the week in between Christmas and New Year’s, and both basketball teams play far away as well.

The responsibility lies with both the fans and the administration. The students have to want to follow sports over the break. The promotions and athletic departments have to find new ways to peak interest in mid-major conference athletics when school in not in session. Together, they can keep enthusiasm for Terrier sports strong over winter break, ready to explode when students return in January.