The Ones Who Come Back

Ball State sports longest-tenured season ticket holders

Elijah Poe Reporter

The scent of popcorn weighs the air as Carol Casazza, a long-term season ticket holder, scurries down a hall to get to her seat inside Worthen Arena. She and her husband Clarence have held season tickets since 1970 for football, men’s basketball and now, women’s basketball.

Before finding her seat, she walks down the hall toward the court, a curtain separating her from the roar of the crowd, the breakaway dunk, a clutch threepointer, a buzzer-beater, a great win or a tough loss.

“As you come through the curtain, it’s fun to come out and hear the roar of the crowd,” Casazza said. “It is kind of like being on the team, I guess it is how [the players] come out onto the floor with the crowd cheering for them. When we come down the hallway, they’re not cheering for us, but you kind of get into the feeling of a big crowd and a lot of fans supporting the same team, and that’s kind of exciting.”

Gymnastics Pfister, Henry earn MAC season honors

Third-year Suki Pfister and thirdyear Victoria Henry have both been awarded Mid-American Conference (MAC) honors. Pfister was named to the First Team All-MAC for the second straight season while also being named the MAC Specialist of the Year, the second year running as well. Henry was named to the All-MAC Second Team for the second time in her career.

Women’s Volleyball 2023 summer camp dates announced

The Cardinals will host summer camps for all ages this summer during June and July. Ball State will host five half-day camps, two elite prospect camps, a general skills camp, an all skills elite camp and a team camp. The camps are open to all entrants. Interested parties can register online at their website.

There are roughly 4,000 season ticket holders for men’s and women’s basketball and football at Ball State, Matt Brown, assistant AD for ticket services and revenue generation, said. Each one has a story of what makes Ball State athletics special to them.

But five of the 4,000 have been coming to games longer than most. John Starnes, Ken and Peggy Briner, and Carol and Clarence Casazza have a combined 160 years rooting for their Cardinals. For them, Ball State is not just a place where they watch sporting events; it’s a place that sets the rhythm for the seasons of their lives.

Starnes came to Muncie as a student and graduated from Ball State in 1965, eventually working at Ball State for 45 years. Starnes has had football and men’s basketball season tickets since 1967.

“It’s very special to me, the fact that [Ball State] basically fed my family and gave me a lot of opportunities to meet a lot of great people,” Starnes said.

Football White returns as defensive graduate assistant

Former inside linebacker Jacob White is returning as defensive graduate assistant for Ball State. White, who spent the past two seasons on Butler’s football staff, played for the Cardinals from 2015-19 where he was a First Team All-MAC selection his senior year. During his time at Butler, the Bulldogs improved from a 3-8 season to a 7-4 season and finished the 2022 season ranked 17th nationally among FCS teams.