This fall, it seemed every other Saturday I would have trouble hearing and a sore throat.

This should have been the case, as it is normal for a member of the fierce Fargodome crowd to experience these symptoms after a North Dakota State football game. There is no doubt the Bison have home-dome advantage, and the team takes full advantage of it.

Just ask University of Northern Iowa quarterback Aaron Bailey what happens when you make over 18,000 people angry because you heard a phantom whistle.

The thing is though; you don’t find this intense passion outside of the Fargodome.

Last week saw the Bison men’s basketball team at home twice, and the games had a combined attendance of 5,867.

Clearly, comparing this to a game at the Fargodome is comparing apples and oranges, but that is not the point. Even though Scheels Arena is much smaller, the noise per attendee is way lower on the Fargodome.

The worst offenders of this are us, the students. The students section could not have been over 500 combined for the two games. Again, numbers aren’t the issue. The participation was not really there, very little enthusiasm from the two sections sitting behind the baseline.

No jumping excitingly, no clever cheers and just subtle clapping here and there.

This seems to be the same across every sport at NDSU. Outside of a few loud guys standing up and yelling nonsense, the students seem content to just sit and watch.

I always enjoy the nonsense, not only because sometimes it’s clever, but it brings energy into the building. If basic science has a say, this energy can’t be destroyed, and likely gets absorbed by the players, who always seem to put in that little bit more effort.

This is the advantage of the home-field, the energy that the crowd has reflects onto the players, and it is up to the visiting side to take the crowd out of the game.

So here is the challenge handed out to the students of NDSU: Get out to a game this week and scream and yell until you can’t.

The Bison women’s basketball team hits the Benson Bunker Fieldhouse Friday and Sunday, and it will be great if they get the crowd behind them a push them for a win.