:14.4

55-52 with 28 seconds left, Brittnay Ray puts up a three pointer, it's short. St. John's gets the rebound and the player is fouled with :14.4. The clock stops and the fans put on their coats and leave. What? You are leaving? You have got to be kidding me! Do you know something about the fate of the two free throws that Nadirah McKenith is going to attempt? Really? You are leaving?!

What is it with "fans" that leave a close game with seconds left? And I do not mean 10 or 15 people, I mean 1/2 of the crowd getting up and leaving. Most of the people leaving are those who have the opportunity to sit in the lower lever seats where you have to donate your life to obtain tickets.

I've been seeing this scenario unfold for many, many years at Rutgers University. Frankly, I'm sick of it. Granted yes, it's been a difficult year for every RU fan and I might just let this slide if it wasn't for the fact that this happens at every game. It does not matter if we are winning, it's a nail bitter or we are getting blown out....the fans leave. Really, how difficult is it to leave the parking lot when there are 3,667 fans in attendance? It's not like going to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day and trying to leave with 54,000 other fans at 4:00 in the Bronx!

How do you think it looks to potential Rutgers players to see fans dropping support with 14 ticks left? If I were a recruit I might shake my head at them and think "wow, they can't even stay a few more seconds and show support?" If your team plays well or not, you owe it to the student athletes to show your support. Being a Division I student athlete on a top tier program is a feat in and of itself!

Come on people, support your student athletes. The least you can do is to wait until the end of the game and applaud them for their effort (which they showed quite a solid effort Wednesday night). Don't get me wrong, the fan support is great and the RAC can get quite loud when it needs to....just hang in there a few seconds and applaud their effort. They appreciate that we trek out to each home game and show support, so why can't you just wait and applaud their effort? Why stop at support during the big moments of the game? Why not wait the last :14.4 and applaud their effort?

I guess the only upside is that it sames me some time exiting the parking lot.