The implementation of the student section wristband policy is the worst thing to happen to ASU students since the invention of the final exam. And all the credit goes to new Athletic Director Lisa Love.
Although Love has not gotten out on the right foot with ASU students, a lot can be done to improve the impression Sun Devil faithful have of her. It starts by making sure students don't have to show up a day before the game to reserve a spot in the student section. That's just the beginning.
The real issue with ASU Athletics has been its inability to make the jump from a good program to an elite one. And by this, I am referring to the sport that garners the most publicity and generates the most revenue: football.
If Love is interested in these programs living up to their slogan, "Pride in the Desert," appropriate steps must be taken to instill a winning attitude, but more importantly, a winning record.
Entering the season with high hopes and a preseason ranking, the football team, loaded with returning talent, was poised to make a run. In each of ASU's three losses thus far, ASU showed potential to do just that.
With leads of at least 10 points against LSU, USC and Oregon, the Sun Devil football team showed pessimists why they were wrong to have such a cynical attitude toward a team with so many weapons. Of course, these leads were soon relinquished, and ASU fans are now left to wonder what has happened to a team that looked like it was legitimately among the top-10 best in the nation.
What happened is Dirk Koetter and a style of play that puts too much pressure on the ASU defense and too little on the opponent's run defense.
I'm not saying the sky is falling, however. Koetter makes a base salary of $700,000 a year, which is pretty cheap, compared to other big-program coaches. Yet the Arizona Board of Regents has looked into extending Koetter's contract past the 2007 season, when the current contract would expire.
This extension, advocates claim, would help Koetter recruit, since recruits would know that the coach who recruited them would be their coach when it comes time for them to hit the field years down the road.
Such an extension, which would carry a hefty price tag, would be a colossal mistake at this point. Koetter has a lot to prove, especially in terms of his record against ranked opponents.
Love, if she truly desires a football program that has a chance to beat her old employer (USC), must put pressure on Koetter to develop a system that places a larger emphasis on the formulation of a consistent running game and defense. Moreover, Love ought to make Koetter prove he can be a big-game coach with the leadership skills to help his players weather the storm of tough losses, which are inevitable.
If these things happen, I'll be the first aboard the Koetter bandwagon.
Love needs to show that she can do more than exercise damage control for an Athletic Department bogged down by the likes of Hakim Hill and Loren Wade (although she should be commended for how she has handled ASU athletics' criminal issues). Love needs to show that she is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
With our weather and quality of life, athletes should be fighting to come to ASU. We need coaches to capitalize on this and move our programs into the upper echelon.
I guess there's always baseball season, and it's worth the wait. Pat Murphy's squad knows how to put on a show - no wristbands required.
Macy Hanson is a political science and philosophy junior. Reach him at macy.hanson@asu.edu.
