“As a spectator of sports I don’t understand the home field advantage. I constantly say to myself that nothing changes about the game regardless of where in fact the competition takes place. In baseball the bases are still ninety feet apart and the pitcher remains at any field location sixty feet six inches from the batter. The object of the game does not change nor do the rules. The paradox then remains what in fact makes this advantage such an advantage if the game does not change?”

“Contrarily as a player, I completely understand the home field advantage. Players love to play when they are playing at home. This fondness of playing at home stems from a variety of sources first of which is my stomach. When playing at home, I can eat what I want and when I want. I am able to make my own food rather than being force fed as Tim McGraw says a “supper from a sack.” Secondly, playing at home allows us to stay away from the constraints of a bus or a van. Although getting to travel to different places across the US is a perk of the program, this very travel makes playing difficult at times. If you are curious as to why travel makes playing difficult I want you to go and sit in your bathtub for the next 4 hours. Then I want you to feebly attempt to stretch out and within an hour sprint or play a pickup basketball game. After you perform your experiment, contrast it with your normal routine of exercise and you might understand some of the hurdles that a team that has traveled in a bus or van has to overcome to play at its peak.”

“But even with the reasons proffered thus far, I believe that the home field advantage is not even close to being proven. Can food and travel really inhibit the visiting team that much that their performance falls so substantially as a result of their travels? I would disagree with this statement. Instead, I believe the home field advantage is present due to the fact that the home team that plays better than normal rather than the visiting team playing worse. The home team plays better for a variety of reasons but I believe the cause most prevalent is pride. When I step out onto the field, it is understood that I do not lose at home. The Flyers do not lose at the Stu. We do not lose at the Stu because we are playing in front of our friends and family, our constituents in class and our professors, those people who we know will actively talk to us the next day about the game. You do not lose in front of these people. This is why I believe that the home field advantage exists.”

“A perfect example of this occurred last week when we played the University of Cincinnati at home. The day was absolutely perfect for baseball. It was sunny and warm. Students sat on blankets on the hill, which rises above right field and, in fact, they blanketed the hill. The bleachers behind the stands were filled as well mostly with family members and close friends of the guys on the team. Stepping outside of the dugout and looking around seeing a couple hundred people, about fifty of whom I personally knew, about to watch me play. I truly felt fortunate. As I was announced as the starting left fielder for the Dayton Flyers and began to sprint from behind third base and to the outfield, I truly felt fortunate for the opportunity to play this game. It was, in fact, as I had told the guys before the game “a great day to be a Flyer” because we were going to capitalize on our home field. We would not lose.”

“The game began with the intensity that a close rival and beautiful weather usually creates. Picking up a quick tempo, the two teams battled back and forth to a three all tie into the ninth inning. Late in a tight ballgame, the dugout takes on a completely different air. Nobody really sits down except for the coaches and the pitcher. The entire dugout reacts to each pitch. The teams chirp back and forth at each other. Litanies of baseball speak are heard being echoed throughout the yard. Courses of “hum babe” and “kid”, things, which we as players would never be heard uttering apart from the game, are yelled at the tops of our lungs. I typically pace back and forth in front of the dugout pulling for the guy at the plate or if I am in the field pace in circles looking like a man a few bricks short. Strain and concentration is seen on everyone’s face. Every pitch takes on great importance and everybody wishes that, yes, that one big play that we need, will transpire any second. This is the time when I believe the home field advantage is at its greatest.”

“The advantage comes about because now in the thick of the game when I am nervous or too excited, I have the ability to step out of the dugout and escape by glancing at my friends and the pretty girl I invited to the game. I like to do this when I am getting tense because the casual conversation that is taking place between my friends out in the stands as we are battling humors me. Even here, I see how much more importance, maybe too much importance, the game takes on for us rather than for our friends to which this game is just an escape for relaxation in their day. It relaxes me to see them enjoying the game and supporting me and allows me to put the competition in perspective. It refocuses me and, at the same time, creates the pride and the knowledge that I will not lose in front of these people who are supporting me with their presence.”

“And in front of these people, I was in the bottom of the ninth with the scored tied and a man on third. Not at the plate mind you, but on deck, waiting for my opportunity. Excited but escaping as not to get too excited, I watched as my roommate Matty McCleskey battled to a 2-0 count and saw ball three quickly squirt through the catchers legs and to the backstop forcing the winning run to cross the plate. The mob was on at the plate to celebrate the victory. No we didn’t lose at the Stu. We didn’t lose in front of these people. The home field advantage on this day was thick and its presence felt as I looked out into the stands to my friends applauding our efforts. It truly was a great day to be a Flyer.”