The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Sports

Keith Locklear

Last Sunday I worked the student entrance for the women's basketball game against Ole Miss. I have worked at the Colonial Center for about two and a half years and I can honestly say that this past Sunday more students came through the student entrance than I have ever seen at a women's basketball game.

While there were only about 90 or 100 students, it was a much larger crowd than what usually shows up to watch the women's team play. What was the cause of this sudden surge in interest in our women's basketball team?

Well, that would be the new online ticket distribution system that was put into place this semester.

When the people who devised this new ticketing system were ironing out the details, they decided to include women's basketball as an event that students could attend to earn points. These points are then used to decide who will get tickets for important men's basketball games and of course, football games. While this may have seemed like a good way to help generate interest in a sport that struggles with student attendance, it is a flawed idea that needs to have the kinks ironed out.

About half of the students who came in the doors on Sunday actually stayed for the entire duration of the game, and to those people, I applaud your devotion to all things garnet and black. But most of the rest of the students either left at halftime or didn't even stay to watch a single second of the game.

That's right, some people came in the door, got their ticket scanned so they could get their point, and then walked right back out the door, not to mention the students who showed up during the second half of the game and tried to get their tickets scanned, or the people who showed up without a printed ticket and asked if they could still get a point for coming.

So now the question is what could be done to prevent people from taking advantage of the system like this? With the way the system is designed right now, nothing can be done.

Currently, the ticket distribution system rewards students not necessarily for attending an event, but for just merely showing up to it. A student who walks in one entrance and then immediately walks back out another does not deserve to be rewarded the same way as a student who actually stays to watch the game and support the Gamecocks.

While the women's basketball team may enjoy that there are more students in the stands for their games, those students should be there to cheer the team to victory, not to plan out their attendance to football games in the fall.

While this may not be as big of a problem with men's basketball games or football games in the future, it is a problem that needs to be fixed when it comes to women's basketball.

My solution to the issue? Let the students come in the door at the beginning of the game without scanning their ticket, don't let any more students in the doors once the game reaches halftime, and then at the end of the game scan their tickets while they are walking out of the building.

This may seem like a hassle to both the students and the employees but it's a necessary step that needs to be taken. As someone who is a both a student and an employee, I feel it should be a priority to prevent students from abusing the point system and giving our women's basketball team a false sense of support.

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