Pride or Prejudice?

by Albert Greene
Courier Staff

College sports, there is nothing like it. The players are not yet playing for money so the game is still pure; the players play for the love of the game. The fans are great. They stand all game long cheering for their teams.

But when does the cheering go a little too far? When does the cheering turn to badgering the other team?

Everyone has seen it. It happens on every level of sports. From high school basketball to college football, there are always those fans who have just a little too much school pride. Sometimes fans go beyond the face paint and homemade signs and actually get into name calling or even fights.

Whether it is at the other team's fans or an actual player on the other team, some fans show no remorse. So when does showing school spirit go from having some fun to disrespecting your school, or even yourself?

Last Monday in Spokane Wash., the number five ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs took on conference foe Saint Mary's in a basketball game. The Bulldog fans, who call themselves the "Kennel Club", started up the chant "broke back mountain."

The chant was aimed at one of the Saint Mary's players and is actually a movie title that refers to homosexual cowboys. So what is so bad about that one may ask?

Think about it, if you are a gay student sitting in that section with your so called peers, and they started chanting that, how would it make you feel?

Every school has their own personal cheering section. You have seen them before, sitting right in the first couple of rows, all sporting school colored shirts and holding up the "ESPN" signs. Take Duke for instance, their cheering section is so well known that they even have a nickname, the "Cameron Crazies." Teams all around the country know about that cheering section.

The Crazies are so good in fact, that they will even go as far as to look up where a player went to high school and make fun of his home town.

If they are not careful, players can be overwhelmed by the magnitude of that cheering section. They can get into players’ heads and throw them off their game entirely.

Even here at MC some fans have been said to be considered a little too rowdy. For instance, the Monmouth-Knox games are one of the biggest rivalries in the DII nation.

This year Monmouth blanked Knox in the big football game and at both basketball games you could here the chants of 48-0 loudly through the gym, or TURKEY, referring to the game (the Turkey Bowl).

The Knox students however had the privilege of their team winning both basketball games, and they were sure to let us know about it. In this instance, the schools took this as just having fun.

But sometimes things get ugly. At both games fights have almost broken out due to fans getting a little too involved and some fans have even been kicked out.

This year a student was actually banned from all MC athletic events due to what some school administrators say was "disrespectful behavior."

So what do you think? Should students keep their mouths closed and just clap when points are made? Or should they have the right to have a little fun as long as it is in good nature? Personally, I feel the name calling and jarring are what make sports special.

It lets the fans feel like they are involved, like they are helping their team. So the next time you are at a sporting event, listen to what is going on around you; you might learn something new about the other team.