One of the main things that makes the Elder football games so great is the atmosphere that the Pit brings during the games. Opposing teams come to the Pit expecting to get a little shook by the crowd, but some teams get more than what they expected; normally the out of town teams. A large part of this is caused by the cheering section of Elder students; who are only a short 15 yards away from the field of play.

The cheering section is always something that the students look forward to being a part of. I remember coming in to Elder my freshman year being over excited and not wanting to leave it, and I believe that the majority of the Elder student body would say the same thing. No matter what some say, it’s clear that the student section of the Panthers plays a role in the game. If you were able to be at the Depaul Catholic game two weeks ago, it was obvious how rattled that out of town team was by the cheering section and the overall atmosphere of the Pit.

“The section plays a big role in how the other teams perform,” said senior corner Alec Ulhorn, “especially against teams that aren’t used to playing in front of big crowds like Elder’s.”

However, one of the main issues that has been brought up this year is the small amount of kids who seem to leave the section early, and not come back. This has been a re-occurring problem throughout the whole year, and has left some of the other more loyal students unhappy.

“The student section is always a fun place to be in while watching the game,” said junior Ross Mullen. “But it’s annoying how some kids stay for the first half, and you don’t see them at all in the second, unless it’s a close game at the end.”

If you have ever noticed, pretty much the whole cheering section gets up at half time and walks around. Which isn’t really an issue because it’s half time, and nothings going on. The issue is that kids don’t come back after they pay their visit to the girl that they have no chance with anyway.

Like I said, it’s not a big deal to leave for half time to get some fresh air, and it isn’t a huge deal if you aren’t back within the first one or two minutes of the third quarter. But if you aren’t back by that six minute mark in the third quarter, than why are you even there in the first place. It’s honestly pathetic that some kids don’t come back to support the Panthers because they would rather talk to girls. I mean, that’s what Saturday night is for. But Friday nights should be spent with your brothers in the section trying to help the Panthers get a big win.

I spoke with junior Max Hofmeyer on this issue. “Most of these kids stand no chance  anyway,” is what he told me. “They should really admire my dedication considering Mr. Reiring had a firm talk with my at Friday’s LaSalle game”

Again, this isn’t all the kids. In fact, I’d say it’s less than 20% of the amount of kids who aren’t back by the midway point of third quarter. But the one’s who don’t come back just really bothers others. To me it makes no sense; the cheering section is always a fun place to be in, especially in the second half because that’s when the game starts getting exciting. So it makes no sense why kids would not want to come back.

This is not a knock to the cheering section. Our support that we have at Elder is undoubtedly better than anyone else’s that I’ve ever seen. No one else can even compare to what we have here at Elder. But the small amount of kids who don’t come back really frustrates the ones who are always always loyal Panthers.