Connector Staff
Nobody would argue with the claim that men’s hockey is more popular than men’s basketball at UMass Lowell. Nobody would also argue with the claim that men’s hockey is the most popular sport on campus.
According to official NCAA statistics from the 2014-2015 school year, UMass Lowell’s men’s basketball compiled an overall attendance figure of 10,264 fans, with an average of 933 fans per game. For hockey, in the same school year, the team compiled 102,390 total fans, with an average attendance of 5,120 per game, according to USCHO.com
To put it simply, it seems that men’s hockey’s popularity far exceeds that of basketball, not only in terms of word-of-mouth and fan interest on campus, but also in actual attendance, and even in the media, as UMass Lowell hockey can sometimes be found televised on NESN.
Not to criticize our hockey team at all, but it is apparent that perhaps the sustained success of the hockey team has taken away from attention paid to our other teams. When a university jumps from Division II to Division I, there will be struggles, and attendance may be lower than what it could be in time. But just because our hockey team has been Division I since 1983, and playing every home game at the Tsongas Center since its opening in 1998, does not mean that the basketball team is any less important to the sporting success and identity of our school.
The same can be, and should be, said for every sport on campus. Every sport here is Division I, and even if attendance figures vary for each one, every team is equally important in status. The men’s hockey team may be our pride and heart and soul, but do not forget about the rest of the body: the rest of our school and all the teams that work so hard to represent UMass Lowell. So while most of you will at least pay attention to, and likely attend, the hockey games, be sure to care about the rest of the teams at our Division I, rising, soaring school. Men’s basketball, in dedication of this issue, do not worry – we know you are here, and soon, perhaps low attendance will be only a remnant of the past, as crowded bleachers block any memory of them being anything other than packed in prior times.
All River Hawks soar.
