WRBB Sports’ weekly column appears Mondays in the Huntington News. Ben Horner is a staff announcer for WRBB Sports. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Last Saturday was, like the last three Saturdays, not a good day to be a fan of Northeastern football. The Huskies fell to 0-4 with a crushing 56-7 defeat against the Villanova Wildcats.

The problems with the program have been discussed time and time again and it does not seem like a quick turnaround is possible, let alone likely. Last season was not a very good one as the team finished 2-10. The season before that was not a successful one either, as the final mark stood at 3-8. In fact, since football joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007 they have had a record of 5-18, with a 3-13 mark in conference. If we look back even further this program only has two winning seasons since 1998, not exactly something to write home about.

But through it all there has been one constant that makes me proud to be a Husky:  the fans. I don’t mean the occasional student who happens to decide to go to game every once in a while. I don’t mean those who claim to be diehards, but cut and run at the first sign of trouble. I mean the true fans, those who still go to the games, those who still listen to the games.

It’s easy to root for a winner. I think a lot of people will tell you that at one point in time they wanted a team to win simply because it was a good team. But to root for a team that hasn’t won a game in almost a year takes something special.

I was the studio host for the WRBB broadcast of Saturday’s game, which meant one of the things I had to do was monitor how many listeners were accessing our live stream. Not many were, but those that were listening deserve a lot of respect.

This column is for you, the fans who through bad times that this program is experiencing keep listening, keep watching, keep going to the games. The fact that you can still get it together to follow this team astounds me. How many people do you think are 100 percent ready to quit on this team? The answer is way too many, but that is another column for another time.

But through it all, you find yourself at Parsons Field, or even following the team on the road. Through it all, you keep up with the statistics. Through it all you keep up with who is playing and who is out injured. Through it all you keep cheering for this team.

You are the reason that I am happy that I am a Husky. Regardless of the weather, the record of the team, or where they are, you’re out there, proving just how great our fans are. Keep it up Northeastern, because win or lose, you are the reason to be hopeful for the future.

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