Believe it or not, Eastern students have plenty of options when it comes to figuring out how to spend their weekends.

The popular choices are obvious – a group of friends huddling around a case of Natural Light, waiting 15 minutes for a bartender to take your order, or walking house-to-house in frigid temperatures, looking for signs of a party.

Oh yeah, I suppose studying is an option as well.

But one thing many students have overlooked is attending an Eastern men’s or women’s basketball game at Lantz Arena.

Whenever I attend a game at Lantz, I feel like most of the student body is missing out on the experience of being part of a rowdy mob.

Before coming to Eastern last winter, I attended Michigan State.

The Spartan fans are loud, ruthless, hilarious and obnoxious. They’re also a big part of why opponents dread playing inside the Breslin Center.

Now I’m aware of the subtle differences between the Eastern basketball program and Michigan State’s. However, there is no reason why the Lantz seats and bleachers should be as empty as Calista Flockhart’s refrigerator.

Both the men’s and women’s teams are better teams than their 5-9 and 7-7 records suggest.

Plus, the two teams have taken road trips to open the Ohio Valley Conference season, and winning on the road in no easy feat.

So, for either of the Panther teams to compete later in the conference season, they must take advantage of their home-court advantage – if they have one.

So far this season, the home games I have attended have featured sparse crowds. Unless the teams benefit from an atmosphere akin to Booth Library, things need to change.

Apparently, Eastern has a student-fan organization called the Blue Crew. I wasn’t aware of this, but since it was brought to my attention, I’m all for it.

Next on the agenda would be finding a good nickname for Lantz Arena.

New Mexico has an arena nicknamed “The Snake Pit,” which is intimidating. Lantz Arena needs something in a similar vein.

Since calling it “the Den” would cause me confusion, I propose calling the Panther’s arena “The Lair.”

I know it’s bad, but at least it’s better than “The Litter Box.”

When weighing the options for a Saturday night, why not make Panther basketball part of the plan?

It would be one thing if students had to pay to see a .500 or a sub-.500 team play, but for Eastern students, it’s free.

And trust me, the games start early enough where any quality time you have planned with that case of Natural Light won’t be sacrificed.

Dan Woike, a senior journalism major, is also dissatisfied with the fan-bases of the following: this column, professional lacrosse, Girls Gone Wild and Asia (the band, not the continent). Tell him you’re a fan of his or “Heat of the Moment” at [email protected].