Rachel Eschenbach has thrown down the gauntlet

By Mike Gibson
Fitting that a Temple University fencer has thrown down the gauntlet in response to Lewis Katz's challenge.
Tell the New Jersey Nets' majority owner and 1963 Temple grad how to increase fan support for Temple's athletic teams, specifically basketball and football, and win $5,000 of Katz's hard-earned cash.
Rachel Eschenbach (pictured, we think) is a Temple fencer and she won the prize for some excellent suggestions.
She formulated a point system, rewarding students for attendance at athletic events.
Excellent suggestions, but we're not really sure if they are the right ones to put football fans in the seats.
Surely, there are even some better football-specific ideas out there.
In the spirit of what Rachel does for fun and sport, we say:
ON GUARD!!
TOUCHE!!
You take the sword now and keep brainstorming.
Just because Katz's $5,000 is not available anymore doesn't mean each one of us can't make a meaningful contribution to put some fannies in the seats at Lincoln Financial Field this fall.
Football quarterback Colin Clancy won second place for suggesting a class and structuring it to brainstorm further ideas.
Another player, former football kicker Cap Poklemba, showed what just one man can do in drumming up both support and enthusiasm at football games by acting like a one-man raving lunatic. He single-handedly aroused a theretofore moribund fan base into a whooping, involved mob bent for blood in the final three home games of the season.
With apologies to Rachel Eschenbach, Poklemba demonstrated that one man can make a huge difference.
We are many men and, in Rachel's case, women.
I'm taking Rachel's sword and pointing it at you now.
"You da man."
At least when it comes to meaningful ideas to transform an empty stadium into a full one.
Our brain power and kicking around of ideas can make a difference, like Rachel's ideas undoubtedly will and like Cap's enthusiasm undoutedly did.
Now it's up to you.
Take a few hours or days and come back to this story and post your ideas in the comments section here. We'll publish them as quick as possible and won't pass any judgments, negative or positive.
Before football season tickets go on sale, we'll pass all the suggestions on to both athletic director Bill Bradshaw and the hard-working guys in the ticket office.
Remember, nothing too crazy like offering $1,000 cash bonuses for successful field goals (although Cap could use the extra dough).
Something that would not cost much, but entice enough students, grads and Temple people to make the Linc a house of horrors for Owl foes.
Rachel took pen to paper and came away with 5K.
Her's is a good idea, but just one.
This project needs many more.