by Katherine Peach

Bronco football kicks off the 2008 season with an away game versus the University of Nebraska in Lincoln on Aug. 30. The team's home opener is Sept. 6 against Northern Illinois University, which includes a huge pre-game tailgate party hosted by area corporations in an annual campus tradition known as CommUniverCity Night.

The Broncos are a Division I team of 100 players that competes in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference, which encompasses New York to Illinois. Division-I status is the highest level in college football, a rating based on stadium size and attendance. The team's 2008 schedule includes six home games (schedule link). Special events, such as CommUniverCity Night and Homecoming on Oct. 4 can fill Western Michigan University's 30,200-seat Waldo Stadium.

"CommUniverCity Night is the first home game of the year," said Mat Kanan, director of athletic media relations. "The entire baseball field is covered with tents from corporations that sponsor the pre-game events. It's tailgating and barbeque all in one."

The 2008 season marks the 71st anniversary of the Broncos playing in Waldo Stadium. The original stadium, built in 1939, cost $250,000. The stadium underwent a massive renovation in 2003 and the Donald Seelye Athletic Center added to the east end of the stadium cost $25 million alone.

Canadian wide receiver comments on the U.S. game

Caleb Clark, 20, is a wide receiver on the team who grew up near Calgary, Alberta—a 39-hour drive from Kalamazoo. He is a junior studying advertising and promotion and was a stand-out high school football player. He made his way to WMU on the suggestion of a Calgary contact who knows Bill Cubit, WMU's head football coach.

"Over the years I have really found Kalamazoo to be my second home," Clark said. "The U.S. is very welcoming to foreign students. They really embrace international students' culture and beliefs. It's not as daunting as they might think. In terms of being a student athlete, we have the same amount of academic work load, plus, we have the constraint of practice every day and the pressures of wanting to be on the field to play."

Clark said coming from Canada, a country proud of its diversity, well prepared him for living in the states. Adjusting to the changes that exist between the way the game is played in Canada and in the states is another story.

"It's night and day compared to football here," he said. "Canadian football is played on a longer field and there are more players and downs, but football is football despite these differences."

American football, especially college football, is quickly becoming an international obsession. Although widely played in Canada, it is not the media powerhouse that college football is in the U.S. "I think Canada is getting closer—here it's a way of life and there it's just a sport, Clark said."

Kanan said college football has caught media attention nationwide for the past 20 years with channels like ESPN and that when people think of the college experience, they think of Saturday college football.

"College football is becoming the most popular sport—it is very similar to soccer," Kanan said. "People go to soccer matches (overseas) and it's an all day event. Here we call it tailgating when students, alumni, fans and family, gather around the stadium hours before the game."

The excitement of the game expands beyond what the players do on the field. The half-time shows feature WMU's 300-musician, award-winning Bronco Marching Band, which practices nearly as much as the football team. The marching band also plays during the game to promote team/school spirit among the fans.

For more information, visit the Bronco Football Web site.