LAUREN CARFIOLI
Contributing Writer
I recently witnessed the Pepperdine student body gasp in disgust over our newly formed mascot, our very own spandex display of super troopers, the Wave Men. These Wave Men have been charged with bringing down the school morale and uncrowning our former combatant, King Neptune. But can we really blame our lack of school spirit on this bunch?
Instead of attacking these so called “Power Rangers,” we should be proud of our mascot. Rather than pointing our finger at this five-some, we should point our fingers at ourselves. Pepperdine students are to be blamed for the lack of school spirit and something needs to be done.
Overall, Pepperdine has one of the best athletic programs in the nation. Last year the Pepperdine volleyball team won their fifth national championship, defeating UCLA on the Bruins’ home floor, which has never been done in a NCAA tournament. In 2004, our incoming baseball recruits were ranked No. 8 by collegiate baseball and ended the season ranked No. 23 in collegiate baseball.
This will be the fifth year in a row that our women’s soccer team will advance to the NCAA tournament out of 64 teams in the nation. Our water polo team is ranked fifth in the nation and aims at winning this years’ Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) tournament. And the list goes on, comprised of Olympic athletes such as Jesse Smith, professional athletes who attended Pepperdine such as Alex Acker, and world-renowned coaches like Paul Westphal. The talent is there; now we need to get out our spirit sticks and show our opponents what are made of.
After running cross-country for five years, I realized how much the fans would push me when my muscles burned, and I could no longer feel my feet. The point is we need to start recruiting the fans out to the games, for the sake of our athletes and Pepperdine overall. A college is only as good as all of its components, and that includes athletics.
Senior Brock Christopher said, “Without a football team, it throws everything off. Half of the people who come to Pepperdine are from out of state and haven’t heard of water polo.”
That is exactly what needs to be changed. Last week, I brought a friend from Texas to his first water polo game to show him what it’s all about, and he couldn’t believe the intensity of the game. Pepperdine has one of the most beautiful baseball fields in the country, with some of the best athletes, and it’s shameful to see the stands abandoned by spirit on game days.
Students, such as members of RipTide, continue to plan events in hopes of uplifting school spirit and recently Scott Alexander, a member of the Student Government Association, is a proposing a new spirit group on campus.
The group’s plans are to “work with other campus groups to secure funds to enable fun events encouraging school spirit which could possibly entail such things as tail-gating before a big game.” But we can’t attack only students for their lack of spirit; athletes also need to find new ways to get Pepperdine pumped for their seasons. Go Pepperdine.
11-10-2005