Tom Grover

This is really frustrating.

Another person has written yet another editorial to the Herald Journal complaining about the behavior of Aggie fans in the Spectrum.  The most recent editorial was by Nick Eastmond, who is apparently a professor on campus.

There have only been three editorials (by my count) complaining of fan behavior in the Spectrum and all three editorials have a common theme- they fundamentally do not understand college basketball.  Mr. Eastmond, for example, concedes that he is “not an avid basketball fan.”  Nonetheless, the editorial seems to know what an appropriate college basketball atmosphere is.

I am sure that Mr. Eastmond means well in his criticism, however, I feel that I must respond to the inaccuracies in his editorial.

The editorial begins by rebutting an earlier Herald Journal editorial this way:

The gist of the article was: It’s OK for spectators to belittle and insult their opponents because (1) that’s the way basketball is played in other places; (2) our coach is “on board” with that; and (3) our fans can make a distinction between behavior in the Spectrum and the real world, where it implied that such behavior would be unacceptable.

This is not an accurate representation of the Herald Journal editorial or the letters that were written in support of the Spectrum crowd.  The Herald Journal did not argue that the Spectrum fans behavior was acceptable because “because that’s the way basketball is played in other places.”  Far from it.  The Herald Journal correctly contrasted the behavior in the Spectrum from that which is found elsewhere:

USU fans are generally pretty tame in terms of their language. While other college basketball fans around the country sport chants that are vulgar and profane, Aggie fans’ chants are — while loud and structured — mild. Fans don’t throw objects onto the court or at players or officials. None of the organized chants include swear words. And there is rarely, if ever, violence at the Spectrum.

Simply put, the Herald Journal correctly noted that Aggie fans are less vulgar but louder and more organized than then norm in college basketball.  That is very different than saying it’s ok because everyone else does it.  Frankly, it’s pretty awesome that our crowd is both louder and less vulgar.  We should all be proud of that.

I don’t take exception with the accuracy of the statement that the crowd is loud because Stew encourages it.  This is absolutely true.

The editorial’s third contention implies that the Herald Journal advocates compartmentalization of ethics.   Again, this is not what the Herald Journal argued.  This comes down to an unfamiliarity with college basketball.  Here is what the Herald Journal argued:

In general, student fans know the difference between game-day behavior and everyday behavior. The trademarked cheers and heckling start when they enter the Spectrum and end when they leave the Spectrum.

This is not arguing that different ethics are appropriate for the Spectrum.  It’s arguing that we behave differently in different venues.  The way you behave at a BBQ, for example, is different than how you behave at Church.

Building on this theme, the editorial compares college basketball to the Winter Olympics:

Let me ask you: We just finished with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Would this kind of behavior be acceptable at the Olympics, winter or summer? Is that the kind of competition you would want American athletes to be part of? If American fans harassed teams from other countries, is that something you would want (possibly it would increase our athletes’ chances of winning)?

Mr. Eastmond assumes that heckling and racous behavior is inherently inappropriate. As I noted previously, this is completely false.  Our opponents love the hostility in the Spectrum.  Year after year our opponents lavish praise upon the same fans that heckle them.

Our opponents praise the Spectrum and Aggie fans because they understand what the editorial doesn’t- that heckling, loud crowds and organized chants make for great environments for both teams.  Each opponent would love nothing more than the glory of being the 14th team out of nearly 200 to beat Stew Morrill in Logan.  What a huge honor that will be!

I only included a few quotes in my letter to the Herald Journal because I was limited to 450 words, but believe me, there is a limitless supply of quotes by the opposition of how much they love the Spectrum.  For many players, the chance to win in Logan is the highlight of their season.

Mr. Eastmond tells the unfortunate story of a graduate student who sat behind the visitors bench and was heckled:

I brought this topic up in a class I taught on campus yesterday and heard sentiments worth repeating. (These were graduate students, not undergrads). One student from another country told how he had been invited to attend an Aggie basketball game, with tickets supplied by a Canadian Christian university. Because of the generosity of the hosts, he had sat in their section. He felt that the Aggie fan behavior directed toward him was aggressive, insulting and offensive, just because of where he was sitting.

This is truly unfortunate.  If it really is common place, it needs to stop. However, to impute the behavior of one or two people on 10,270 is ludicrous.  Though the visiting team was generous, this was probably not fair to the student to sit him behind the bench.  It is probable that this would have happened at any venue in America.  At the very least, the grad student should have been given a warning that it was a possibility.

Finally, the editorial wraps up his arguments with the “won’t someone puh-leeze think of the children” argument:

The second [foreign graduate student] recounted how he had taken one of his children to a game and later, when playing a game of basketball with the child, had to correct the language to state emphatically that “you suck” and “stupid” were not appropriate language on a neighborhood basketball court.

If you really think that the non-vulgar crowd at the Spectrum has the potential to corrupt your kids, you are incredibly naive.  First, your kids hear things that are ten times worse every day at school.  Hell, it might even be your kid that’s saying the stuff that’s ten times worse!  If you are worried about your child being corrupted by vulgar influences, the Spectrum really ought to be somewhere like #459 on your list.

Finally, it is not the duty of the entire world to conform their public behavior to the particular preferences of your individual parenting.  Indeed, there is an old Buddhist saying which is an appropriate response to the editorial’s “think of the children” argument:

Instead of avoiding the pain of stepping on thorns and pebbles by paving the entire planet with a smooth and soft surface, one can instead put on shoes.

In other words, if in public, you see behavior that you don’t think your kids should emulate, use the opportunity to be a parent and teach your kids.  Use it as a teaching moment.  Explain to them that in your family you don’t say “you suck” or “stupid” and why. Explain that how you behave in your family is different than how college students behave at Aggie games.

Anyway, my fear with these people remains the same. That we have a bunch of people making public complaints about something that they don’t know anything about.  My fear is that the officials at USU would capitulate to this handful of individuals and ruin something that is really special and unique.

Finally, it’s astounding to me that in one of the greatest seasons of Aggie basketball, there are still people who manage to hone in on negativity.  Seriously, that’s ridiculous!  We are Conference Champions! Relax and enjoy the ride!  Seasons like this are uncommon!

GO AGGIES!