By Katie Sanchez, Editor-in-Chief

Rampant inflation has caused the prices of all sorts of essential goods to skyrocket in the last few years. I understand that it costs more to produce goods nowadays, but I would like to think that one consumer good should not be touched by this troubling trend because it is absolutely sacred: the Cintas Center hot dog.

When I was a first year just three basketball seasons ago, you could get a Cintas Center hot dog for just $3 during the pregame sale charmingly dubbed “Hoopy Hour.” Last year, it rose one dollar to a reasonable $4. This season, to my shock and horror, Hoopy Hour no longer discounts food, and my beloved sausage now costs $6. Six dollars! Twice the amount it was three years ago.

As a devout Xavier basketball fan, I have attended dozens of Cintas Center home games. These are some of the experiences that I look back most fondly on in my last semester as a senior, and that precious hot dog has played a significant part in them.

While standing outside in the pregame lineup in all kinds of weather, I was often comforted by the idea that as soon as doors opened, I could warm myself with a delicious discounted hot dog as I waited another 90 minutes for the game to begin. This was my ritual which I shared with friends. We all topped our hot dogs differently, but we were all eager to spend our $3 on them and consume them together on the bleachers of the student section.

Now, that ritual has been interrupted. $3 once or twice a week is one thing. $6 for one singular hot dog is where I draw the line. Have you ever had a hot dog that you truly thought was worth $6? I love this hot dog, but it is nothing gourmet or unique. There is simply no way that this sausage could cost that much to make, even when factoring in labor and a reasonable profit. It is a hot dog.

The beauty of this hot dog is in its simplicity and affordability. It is nothing groundbreaking, but it is dependably warm, cheap and perfectly adequate tasting. As a consumer, I would argue that this hot dog is worth exactly three dollars.

I’m no economist, but I just can’t believe inflation has cause supply costs to rise this much. Keep the hot dog full price during the game, but is it really too costly to keep a discount during “Hoopy Hour?”

This season, I’ve hesitated to buy that hot dog that used to be so critical to my gameday experience. I’m being priced out of the concession stand, eager as I am to spend my money there. I understand that concessions exist to make money and plenty of adults with real jobs are happy to spend $6 on a hot dog; however, at a university sports event with a significant student audience, shouldn’t there be some effort to make sure students can enjoy the full gameday experience as well? Students are the majority of fans in attendance during Hoopy Hour (most people don’t get to sports events over an hour before they start), so I had assumed the discount was marketed towards us. Alas, it is no longer.

Some may say that a mediocre concession stand hot dog is too insignificant to raise this much angst over. They may be right. However, it is the small things like these — a warm, ketchup-topped sausage enjoyed with one’s dear friends and fellow students — that make the college experience just that one bit better.

I’m regrettably passing on that hot dog most of the time now. But it will always be in my heart.