That’s how it should be. When a program rewards the fan base with success, the fans should reward the team by creating a hostile environment for opposing teams.

Athletic Director Mark Hollis spoke over the summer about how the students have rewarded the program financially. Every seat in the student section was sold before classes started. It’s about people not showing up.

“The bottom line is, it’s not a cost factor,” he said. “The tickets are sold. We can’t jam another person in the student section if everyone shows up, but we are in a culture where for seven weekends it’s tough for 13,000 students to say ‘I’m going to support the football team.’”

Hollis hit the nail on the head. The issue isn’t money, the issue is us: the students. I hear people from older generations talk about how this generation is ruining the country. I have a lot of problems with that kind of rhetoric, and I don’t think Hollis was saying that, but for every comment your grandfather makes about kids these days, he’ll probably be saying something that rings true.

The bottom line is this: whether it is against Wyoming or Michigan, stop being lazy and go to the games.

I spent three years in the football student section and I’ve had some of the best moments of my life in Spartan Stadium. I am an out-of-state student with no high school or family ties to MSU. The first time I ever really felt like a Spartan was when I was part of a unified body of my peers, trying to cheer MSU to victory.

That might sound like MSU lip service, but I swear it is not. There are true emotions that come with being a part of the student section that too many kids are missing out on, based on decisions they are making.

“When I was a student in 1980, I would never have dreamed of missing a game,” Hollis said. “Sure, there are things the athletic department can do to entice students to go to the games, but the bottom line is every individual student has to decide if they want to spend three hours every week at Spartan Stadium.”

Maybe one of those things the athletic department can do is lowering the seat count for the student section. Yes, MSU is a big school, but 13,000 is a lot of seats. I’ve thought for years the upper deck of the section is not necessary.

Mark Hollis is trying to think of ways to entice you to go to games, and frankly, he shouldn’t have to do so.

You want to be enticed to go to games? Look at any scoreboard in Spartan Stadium and you’ll see the words “2014 Rose Bowl Champions.” That should be all the enticing you need.

Geoff Preston is a sports reporter at The State News. Reach him at gpreston@statenews.com.