Sports > August 30, 2007

By Ryan Durham | Sports editor

We are the reigning ACC Champions, or at least I thought we were. Sitting down to watch the daily SportsCenter or other talk shows in which the upcoming football season is discussed, it is hard to tell whether or not the Deacs are even on the radar of some of the country’s most prominent sports minds.

Despite returning some of last year’s top players, Wake Forest still gets little respect in football, and the sports world as a whole.

Yes, field hockey, men’s soccer and women’s soccer garner Top 25 rankings every year, but we still are not looked upon as a sports school.

In order to gain the respect that we deserve and need, it is up to the fans to stand up and make sure that the voice of Wake Forest is heard.

Though I’m not always the biggest fan of the Screamin’ Demon organization, it was uplifting to see the long line of students attempting to ensure they have front row seats for this season’s football and basketball games.

It falls on us as students at this university to try and make Groves Stadium, Lawrence Joel Memorial Veterans Coliseum, Spry Soccer Stadium, Kentner Stadium and all of our other athletic facilities a hard place for opposing teams to come in and play.

Every student should be out supporting our teams with every chance they have.

This is the only way Wake Forest and the Demon Deacons will get the respect it deserves for its sports teams.

Though it is not always possible or plausible to travel with our teams to remote locations during the school year, it is possible to ensure that they know we are behind them and support what they are trying to do for the university.

Yes, this will be difficult.

We are not a massive state school like UNC-Chapel Hill or N.C. State. Even Duke is bigger than we are.

But that just means we have to show up and be louder and even more supportive than students at those schools.

We used to have this atmosphere at the Joel and toward the end of last season, even had it at Groves.

But it falls upon the student body to ensure that last season’s successes are transferred to this season and that failures are left by the wayside.

We have to show up in force and tell the country that our teams are not backing down and we will be there to support them the entire way.

Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and the rest of their cohorts should be talking about Wake Forest on Saturday mornings.

Not because we have lost but because despite our size, we are still one of the toughest opponent for anyone in the country to face. I would like to hear the Saturday commentators on television talking about painting the stadium black and the tenacity of the Wake Forest fan base.

It would be great to see the College GameDay set right outside of Groves stadium for the world to see.

But these things rely on us, the fans, being out in the crowd not goofing off but truly supporting our team.

Your social life is probably important to you, but when you come to a sporting event at Wake it should not be the focus of your attentions.

The team should be the main focus of the afternoon.

So help the Screamin’ Demons and the rest of the Wake Forest faithful and cheer on all the teams at this university.

If we are not willing to promote our team, no one else will be willing to do it either.