Let’s face it: UCSD has little school spirit. I cannot tell you how many countless times I’ve heard the phrase: “UCSD is so anti-social.” It’s not uncommon to feel like the only one on campus on a weekend. Students buy sweaters with U-C-S-D emblazoned on the front not because they’re die-hard Triton fans, but rather because the clothing is incredibly comfortable.

With the campus administrators scratching their heads over why our campus seems to have so little social life and trying to decide whether or not to relax the strict alcohol policy, I propose a different venture: Why don’t we start with a good game of football? And I don’t mean intramural flag-football; I’m talking about football on the level of NCAA Division III — or even II.

It doesn’t make sense that we have every other sports team under the sun, but not one of the most common collegiate sports. I look across the way at SDSU and envy their school’s spirit: It doesn’t matter that they have a losing record — students are still proud of their team and attend their games, while even ESPN wants a piece of the Aztec spirit to broadcast.

A visit to a University of Southern California football game will open your eyes to exactly what we’re missing out on: pre-game BBQs, fans covered in red and gold from head to toe, spewing stats and bets. Alumni and students alike mix together all for the same reason: They’re proud of their school. But to get this type of unity out of our student body, we need to begin with a football team.

It wouldn’t matter if the Triton football team started out small. It wouldn’t even matter if we had a losing team. Truth is, UCSD students just need someone to root for or some event to attend on the weekends. It’s funny to think that homecoming began as a college tradition –— to every student on campus, homecoming is just a memory of high school glory days.

Don’t get me wrong, UCSD has some awesome sports teams already — mad props to the water polo team for being so amazing despite a lack of scholarships — but there’s nothing like a good football game on a weekend afternoon. Sure we’d start off as underdogs, but look at UC Davis this season: They may not be on the top of the league, but small victories like the big upset over Stanford keep their team alive and give the Aggies’ fans something to talk about for years to come.

Forget the running joke of our “undefeated” football team — it’s time to break a few rules and begin making our own history and traditions. No more rumors about a football team being in the works — give students something to root for in our everyday doom and gloom lives of midterms, and maybe UCSD won’t look like a ghost town on the weekends. It could be a real college campus.