Monday, February 13, 2006
Heckle and Jeckle
It appears that the boys of "Brokeback Mountain" have fans outside of the Hollywood elite Oscar and Golden Globe voters. It was recently reported that the student section for Gonzaga University basketball team has been chanting "Brokeback Mountain" at opposing players. It is safe to assume that the fans aren't suggesting that the opposing players are competent ranch herders, but rather that they share the sexual preferences of the two main characters.
This type of heckling isn't new to the college sports student body. In fact, when compared to past instances, it is relatively tame. Here's a brief rundown for those curious to what is considerd "college spirit" these days:
- At the University of Michigan's Yost Arena, the student body is notorious for partaking in crass cheers aimed at the other team. One cheer in particular is creating quite a controversey. It seems that each year a new vulgarity is added to the end of a cheer that describes an opposing player. Unfortunately this year's chosen curse isn't as couth as the the curses chosen in previous years. It is nice to see a "living document" in action though.
- UofM Basketball fans also got into the act, targeting Michigan State Spartan Paul Davis. Intrepid UofM fans found out that Davis and his girlfriend had broken up earlier in the week. Consequently, these fans found out the name of the newly ex-girlfriend and had pictures of her blown up and distributed at the arena.
- Duke's J.J. Redick has been a popular target of ridicule from opposing fans. While many signs and chants question his sexuality, some "fans" take further steps to disrupt his concentration.
- Race has also played a part in this type of jeering, with the most famous instance involving Patrick Ewing and his alleged "inability" to read a sign about himself.
- Without a doubt, though, the most heinous example of fans crossing the line of taste and decorum occured at Arizona State University where fans yelled "PLO" and "Where's your Dad?" to Arizona freshman Steve Kerr. Kerr's father had been a college professor and was killed by terrorists at American University in Beirut in 1984. (Here is a google-archived article from the Arizona Daily Wildcat that goes into a little further detail and offers more examples of the classlessness of some ASU fans.)
- And just to be "Fair and Balanced," O'Reilly style, here's an article by some old milkshake that defends heckling.
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I enjoyed your insightful comments regarding heckling at college sporting events. I sometimes think about the missed opportunities had Baylor University allowed Carlton Dotson to play out his eligibility. I can only imagine the creative thoughts that could have been created by mixing a little university academia with 12 parts alcohol. {sigh}
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