Post by lurkerhoya on Feb 23, 2011 20:16:22 GMT -5
From You Con's student newspaper. I really hope this is sarcasm, because if you really want to talk sportsmanship and fair play, well....
www.dailycampus.com/commentary/editorial-student-section-needs-more-sportsmanship-1.2011403
www.dailycampus.com/commentary/editorial-student-section-needs-more-sportsmanship-1.2011403
There is an unfortunate and growing trend at UConn sports games, notably those of the men's basketball team, in which fans in the student section are displaying poor sportsmanship and little respect. This behavior should be diminished – or ideally, stopped – right away.
Since the beginning of the season back in November, when the starting lineup and coach for the opposing team are announced at the start of the game, the entire student section will turn their backs to the court, yelling "Sucks!" after each player's name is announced. This creates the effect of the sentence being, for example, "Marshon Brooks sucks!" – which is not only rude, but completely false.
But student section behavior has taken a turn for the worse in the last few games, with the recently-developed practice of yelling as loudly as possible during timeouts. The goal is to drown out the sound of the opposing coach's speech to his players during the timeout, since the opposing team is always seated on the half of the court closest to the student section.
This undercuts the very essence of what a sporting competition is supposed to be. Any athletic event is meant to be two teams pitted head-to-head with an equal opportunity to win. Obviously, the two teams cannot be exactly equal, since some players will be better than others (especially in the case of Kemba Walker). But no unfair advantage, talent aside, is given to the home team, and likewise, no unfair disadvantage is placed on the visiting team.
Attempting to overpower the volume of the opposing coach during a timeout is an example of one such unfair disadvantage. If coach Jim Calhoun is able to speak to his players in a volume they can hear, the opposing coach should be able to do the same, without any disruption from the student section. With the men's basketball team ranked as the 14th-best team in the country in this week's Associated Press rankings, we should be able to beat most teams purely on the basis of our skill. No other factor should play a role when it comes to deciding which team triumphs at the end of the day.
Legendary football coach Knute Rockne was once quoted as saying, "One man practicing sportsmanship is better than a hundred teaching it." Now is the time for the student section at the men's basketball games to take that advice.
