It’s 10:58 p.m., and the game has finally begun. Not the game against Carolina inside the RBC Center, that game is over — this game is in the student parking lot.
Following the 95-71 loss to the Tar Heels, I saw students sprinting to the parking lot, pulling off moves similar to that of Andre Brown to avoid knocking over elderly couples and children.
Hey, why the rush?
I know the Wolfpack just lost again to the Tar Heels for the sixth straight time. I realize students want to run immediately away from their sorrows. But, that’s not why the students are running.
They are running because they realize if they can’t get to their car before the traffic directors block the exit gate, they will have to sit there for more than half an hour.
Not only that, but they will have to sit there and watch every person who attended the game drive by while they get front row seats right in front of the gate.
After a few minutes of people trying to position their cars in a way that they can squeeze into a tight spot in front of someone, they realize they aren’t going anywhere.
While the atmosphere was more somber following the loss to the Heels, the atmosphere I saw during the Maryland game was probably the wildest I’ve ever seen.
Almost every car was turned off after 15 minutes of waiting. Students began to leave their cars and walk to Damon’s or Wendy’s across the street, realizing they were going nowhere soon.
Thirty minutes later and the scene had become comical. I heard an attempted fight song — the band? No. Someone was attempting to do it with his horn.
Students were running through the parking lot with no shirts on and yelling at the top of their lungs. A second later, I saw a hat be thrown about 50 feet in the air, and that was followed by numerous beeps of the horn.
You think Cameron Indoor Stadium or the RBC Center is one heck of an atmosphere? The craziest atmosphere I have seen all year has been in the student parking lot over the past few home games.
The girl sitting in the car parked in front of us — she had a board game in her trunk, and she got out of the car to get it. I hope that wasn’t planned. But, I am not going to lie, I thought about knocking on her window and asking to play.
There is always next time.
Finally! Nearly 45 minutes after the game ended, I see a car move. It has taken longer for one car to move in the student parking lot than it takes for the actual playing time of a college basketball game.
So, why does this happen? My guess would be that it’s all about keeping the people who spend the money happy. Students aren’t the ones who put thousands of dollars into the Wolfpack Club for parking, tickets and other events.
However, alumni aren’t paying for tuition, are they? The students put thousands of dollars into N.C. State each year, many struggling just to make it through school, but apparently, that doesn’t matter.
What ever happened to allowing the students to leave at the same time as alumni or the casual fan?
I ask that you go back to that because students, who seem to be the only group of people still in its seats with less than four minutes remaining during our basketball games, are being punished for staying for the entire game. Soon, they too will be leaving games early so they can get to their cars before they are blocked off from the exit gate.
More time needs to be focused on students. The school put in a new ticketing system to ‘improve’ how students get tickets; however, when the ticket system Web page has a problem an hour before the game and students can’t print their tickets, that’s a problem.
When students have to sit for 45 minutes and wait for every other car to empty the parking lot, that’s a problem.
Look out for the students. Whether it is Student Government, the Athletics Department or anyone else, I ask you to look out for the students. The students are what make a university what it is, but it seems as though we are often last on the list.
