Football has always been the mainstay of University athletics, a point which barely needs emphasis on a campus when football games are a near-religious experience. While baseball and basketball are also popular, most other University sports are neglected by most students. This is changing for the better, however. Given the University’s recent success on the football field, appearing in upper level bowl games for the past half decade – not to mention the BCS National Championship in 2003, it is not surprising that demand for tickets to these events, as well as when the Tigers play in the SEC Championship, are higher than ever. For this reason, SG and the ticket office have instituted a policy of assigning points to certain minor sports, as well as football road games, which go toward establishing who will receive post-season tickets. This policy has helped set an attendance record, 1,689 fans, for last Friday’s soccer game against Ole Miss. The program is a good idea, and we hope it can be expanded to all smaller University sports and made year-round. This will give students the opportunity to gain points, while at the same time space out their attendance of events – in case of their inability to attend certain events because of class or other social obligations. Such a program would not only do much to elevate interest in less-attended sports, but also to help draw the University together and build a greater school spirit. We acknowledge that there are football fans who simply dislike many of these other sports or have no real interest in them. This is fine, but they must also realize that post-season football tickets are not issued by divine right, nor by a random lottery – they are issued for people who are willing to cheer their University on regardless of the circumstance. If it does not sit well with them, they are welcome to buy regular tickets out of pocket. Though all new ideas take some getting used to, we applaud SG for their forward thinking and hope that the program’s success will be expanded. We salute those students who embrace school spirit, and we believe this move will bring our University closer together.