Final Word: Off the Post

Three years, six semesters and 69 columns later it all comes down to this: my final column. Ever.

In a lot of ways, this might be the most important column I've ever written. Fair or not, you're often remembered by how you go out, which is why I've felt so much pressure the past few days trying to figure out how to fill this space. How can I sum up my entire college career, reflect on the countless games I've attended and leave a few words of wisdom in the process?

Then I realized the key to it all. At the very core of everything I've ever written has been one undeniable sentiment: my love for Boston University athletics.

Of course, my life wasn't always this way. Once upon a time, skimming through The Daily Free Press was about all I needed to know about BU athletics, including the renowned hockey team. That's how I spent my first semester at Boston University: making the hour trek home on the weekends while disregarding my two Rich Hall roommates who were starting to get caught up in BU hockey.

Then it all changed, literally overnight. Lucky for me, those two roommates from Rich Hall, Mike and Tim, turned out to be much more than a couple of random guys I was stuck with for a year. Throw in some crazy College of Communication kid named Jon, and soon I was convinced to camp outside of the ticket window -- on the first day of second semester classes no less - for tickets to see BU play BC. A mere 13 hours spent inside the Case Center, and I was hooked on BU athletics.

The most interesting part of it all is that I was hooked even before I saw the game. That fact just proves something I've known ever since: It's not so much what happens on the field or the ice that gets you hooked, but it's the people you share it with that truly makes the experience special. No matter how good or bad a team might be, your friends remain constant throughout.

I look back now and realize just how fortunate I am that those three guys didn't just give up on me, as they easily could have done. Without their urging, I may never have discovered BU hockey or BU athletics and I'd be graduating in a couple weeks never knowing what I missed.

The sad part is that I'm afraid there are a number of people graduating in 16 days not knowing what they missed. Not everyone wins the friend lottery, leaving the sports themselves responsible for drawing people in. Currently, this is the biggest failure at BU.

A lot of what I've done over the past few years has been an attempt to combat this problem. I've been highly critical of the athletic department during my time as a columnist, but it has not been a result of any hatred or malice. Instead, I'd probably classify it as frustration. What I want more than anything is for BU athletics to blossom into something so big it can't be ignored by the majority of the campus. All too often, I've felt that decisions have been made that work against this ideal.

There's a lot that needs to be done within the athletic department if BU athletics is ever to reach that level. The department itself needs to take the program more seriously before anyone else can follow suit. I'll never forget a conversation I had with a former member of the athletic department who insisted on reminding me that "we're not BC," implying that BU athletics was somehow less significant in the grand scheme of things.

This is the type of reasoning that runs perpendicular to the hard work of so many, sabotaging attempts to push this athletic program forward. In truth, it might not be such a bad thing to aspire to have an athletic department comparable to the one down the road. Boston College is home to an athletic department unafraid to push the envelope, one that refuses to settle for "just good enough." If you disagree, take a look at the Eagles' move to the ACC. BC resided in the Big East, one of the premier conferences in the country, but saw an opportunity to jump to the next level and took it. Meanwhile, BU athletics toils aimlessly in the America East, content with beating up on schools like the University of Hartford.

It's truly a shame that on a campus with a population close to 35,000, the men's basketball team or an outstanding women's lacrosse team is lucky to play in front of a few hundred fans. While the traditional myriad of excuses works for some, at some point the blame has to reflect back on the athletic department itself. It's the job of the athletic department to entice fans into coming to games by creating a product which can't be ignored. At this point, it's hard to consider these efforts anything but a failure.

But make no mistake about it, Boston University athletics is going places. My friends and I have often talked about what it would be like to be students here in 10 or 15 years, because this will truly be a special place, one that just might come close to that utopia so many people have been dreaming about.

And even though it might be time for me to graduate, that doesn't mean it's time to forget about BU. Though you only get four years as a student, you get a lifetime as a Terrier. While some might forget about BU and its athletic program a short time after receiving their diploma, it doesn't have to be that way. Loyalty doesn't have an expiration date, and as long as you want to be a part of BU athletics, you can be. It might be a little more difficult to keep tabs on BU's athletic program than many other schools, but that's all the more reason to be proud to be a Terrier -- it isn't easy.

Finally, I think I've figured out those words of wisdom I was searching for, that parting shot to hang my hat on. After three years as a columnist it all boils down to three syllables:

Go BU.

Joe Rouse, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press.