The crowd roared Saturday as Patrick Good nailed a three to tie the game and take Mercer to overtime.
I was in the pep band, and I’ll be honest: the “Defense!” cheers and “Let’s go Eagles!” chants from the student section near the end of the game (and especially during that final 51 seconds of regulation) were actually overpowering the pep band’s cheers.
This is my third year helping lead cheers from the band (would be fourth if not for a global pandemic), and Saturday was the first time I’ve experienced this problem. It’s a problem I would welcome again.
While it did feel like a large crowd, Saturday’s official attendance record tells a slightly different story. The headcount came out to 1,778, meaning less than a third of the seats in Winthrop Coliseum were filled.
Sure, it’s a big arena to fill, and it’s only been done on special occasions — but we didn’t even reach a third of the capacity, on Homecoming, for a team that has won back-to-back league championships and is projected to finish on top of the Big South once again this season.
Last Tuesday’s season-opener shows an even more eye-opening statistic. Just 921 fans were in attendance to greet the Eagles for the first time since they represented us on the big stage at the NCAA Tournament in March.
As Winthrop legend Chris Gaynor messaged me on social media, when he played at Winthrop, one of the major contributors to the team’s success was the crowd.
Gaynor said that during his freshman year, there weren’t a lot of people at the games, so coach Gregg Marshall told the community they were earning a D-minus for their (lack of) support. Soon, more fans started attending games.
Well, midterms have passed, and I promise we don’t have an ‘A’ in Coach Prosser’s class. I’d argue we don’t even deserve a ‘C’ right now.
Students, professors, Rock Hillians: I’ll see you at the Coliseum.
