Get ready for some basketball. The Line — the traditional season-kickoff event — is taking place tonight at the Palestra.
The Red and Blue Crew has worked with Penn Athletics to make this year’s event more accessible to students. The event was announced ahead of time and students could register for The Line on Locust Walk or online. We commend students for taking the initiative to revise a tradition in ways that may make it more popular, and we appreciate that Penn Athletics listened to student concerns and made changes accordingly.
While the revisions are laudable, Penn Athletics could have done more to publicize the event. The Red and Blue Crew members and the players have done a tremendous job drumming up support this week, but Penn Athletics should’ve taken more initiative. The latest Penn Athletics news e-mail didn’t even advertise the event, and most of the publicity has come from student efforts rather than from the University.
A benefit of announcing The Line in advance was that Penn Athletics now had more time to mobilize student support. And since attendance at games dwindled over the past few years, school-spirit boosters like The Line need all the publicity they can get. Penn Athletics missed an opportunity to maximize bolstering pride for the Red and the Blue. Nevertheless, we hope students come out for the event.
