August is almost over, so it’s time to crawl out from under your rocks, Husky fans.
Football season is here, and there’s actually some hope surrounding the program for the first time since He Who Shall Not Be Named darkened our doors. And along with that hope, there’s a marquee opponent headed to East Hartford for opening night.
So why are there so many unsold tickets?
It was reported last week that that season ticket sales were a little behind last year’s pace. That’s understandable. UConn is coming off a miserable season. The economy isn’t the best. Bob Diaco is more handsome on TV. It all makes sense. The diehards will buy those tickets, the casual fans might not. Fine.
But this is game number one. Opening night. Against BYU.
As of Tuesday morning, here’s a look at sections with tickets still available:
Seriously, look at all these seats left in 204:
We can do better. You can do better. It’s Friday. You’ll leave work a little early. Why not head to East Hartford, have a beer or 12, get a little rowdy and watch some football?
Last I checked, this was America and that’s what we do.
“Oh, but I had a long week!”
Suck it up. Unwind outside with 40,000 of your craziest friends and scream your face off. You won’t regret it.
“Oh, but we can’t find a babysitter.”
Bring the kid. Let him or her know what UConn football is all about. If they never learn the beauty of college sports, they might end up like Derek the RA. No one wants that.
“But I can watch the game in peace on my TV.”
Sure. You can watch a silent stadium on TV and not be bothered. Or you could be right there in the middle of everything, doing whatever you can to push your team to victory. Your call.
“But I don’t have anyone to go with”
So go yourself. Make a friend at the game. I’ve done it and am not afraid to admit it. No one judges you. But we will all judge you for staying home and being antisocial.
Here’s what it comes down to, guys: UConn opened as 17-point dogs, so there’s a decent chance BYU wins this game. But that doesn’t mean you have to make it easy on them. That doesn’t mean the Cougars can’t hate every damn second they are on that field, unable to hear anything but the screams and cheers of a crowd obsessed.
And hey, that could be what spurs the upset. You never know.
There are plenty of tickets still available and at least one of them has your name on it.
For the love of Dan Orlovsky, rise the hell up.
