Well, it’s that time of year again: Back-to-school sales at K-mart, Cornfest, trying to figure out where you’re going to put your bike now that you’re living in a place the size of a Yugo, etc.

What also marks this time of the year for some of us who take sports way too seriously, is the start of the collegiate sports season. Football, in particular, is starting to fill the minds (not a hard thing to do) of sports fans.

Football season has always been looked forward to in these parts, and in those parts too. But the build-up for this coming year’s NIU football season has been getting more attention than usual, and with good reason.

Coach Jerry Pettibone’s Huskies are coming off of a terrific season: A 9-2 record featuring several nail-biters, some national media attention, top-40 ranking in the polls, and an exciting, high-scoring run-oriented offense. Ohio State used to feature an offense based on “three-yards and a cloud of dust,” NIU’s offense featured “eight-yards and a pile of rug-burned defenders.”

The young man who was primarily responsible for making NIU’s offense so explosive was Stacey “Sauce” Robinson, the leading rushing quarterback in the nation. Robinson’s records and list of accomplishments could fill an entire page, which they do in NIU’s football media guide.

Robinson is surrounded by a school-record 53 returning lettermen, including many players who also deserve to be recognized for what they are: exceptional football players.

Leading the young Huskies will be a now veteran coaching staff, headed by the man who in his fifth year has taken NIU to the brink of college football nirvana: National TV and a bowl game. One of these goals has already been reached with the recent announcement that ESPN will televise the Sept. 29 contest against Northwestern.

To sum up, the coming football season should be at least more exciting than the SA elections, but there is one hitch.

To paraphrase an old question, “if a team has a great season, but there is no one there to see it, is it still a great season?”

I think the answer is “yes”, but the success of the season is diminished as the attention and attendance is diminished. Last year the Huskies drew only 13,743 fans per game, including crowds of less than 6,000 in their final two outings. There are more people than that in the add/drop lines.

You are probably thinking that you know what’s coming next: a pitch for more student attendance at NIU football games.

Surprise! I don’t think anybody should go to a football game, or any other athletic event unless he/she truly wants to. But… (OK, you were partly right.) If you’ve read this far into the column, you probably have some interest in the Huskies, or you have a lot of free time. In either case here’s why it might not be a bad idea to amble over to Huskie Stadium this season.

First and foremost is the team itself: 1990 could be NIU’s year. (See above for details.) Secondly: All the home games are in Sept. and Oct. when the temperature doesn’t figure to make your eyelids freeze shut. Thirdly: School spirit, community pride, supporting your fellow students, all that kind of stuff.

Fourthly: NIU has to draw a certain amount of fans to remain a Division I team. The formula for figuring out how the attendance quota works is to boring to go into, but let’s just say that NIU’s Athletic Department would really really like you to come out.

Fifthly: The Famous Chicken, formerly the San Diego Chicken, will be at the home-opener Sept. 1 against Eastern Illinois. The Chicken, by any name, is worth the price of admission, which brings up: Sixthly: The price of admission is 0 for all NIU students.

Seventhly, the Silverettes are back. That should jack up the male attendance anyway. Eighthly: The home schedule features “Parents/Beef Day” and “Homecoming/Pork Day.” You can make up your own jokes for that one. Ninthly: What else are you gonna do while you’re at college? study?

And tenthly: (tenthly?) Huskie Stadium has new turf. Some of these reasons are better than others.