On game days, the stands are filled with students who defame other teams with derogatory remarks and show the bad side of JMU
Posted on September 13, 2007
The Saturday sun at Bridgeforth Stadium was sweltering, and beads of sweat slid off my slimy skin by the bucketful. Perhaps for early-season games, we should change our old homecoming tees’ jingle to “I sweat purple.” Nonetheless, I grinned broadly through my painted face as I joined in the deafening bellow that surrounded my front-and-center seat.
Yes, the Madison spirit lived through the humid air and I ecstatically envisioned the start of our 2007 winning streak. My thoughts were interrupted when someone nearby me screamed a revolting swear word that I cannot repeat in print. It was as if the turntables at a mad-wicked dance party were suddenly slowed to a stagnant halt. Rather bewildered, I turned to the group of people next to me from whence came this excruciatingly obnoxious cry.
For the remainder of the game, my neighbors continued to yell at the New Hampshire players right in front of us, “Yeah, you! Number 30! You need some water already? Huh? Huh?” One guy had the nauseating audacity to shout exactly how number 30 could, shall we say, “service him,” before the Wildcats were beaten.
This crude cursing was utterly uncalled for. The New Hampshire Wildcats did nothing to us but wear a jersey that is not purple and gold. Such a thing is not a basis for twisting an athletic event into personal taunting.
The teams we play against are our guests (or visitors, if you prefer the scoreboard title). My momma raised me to take special care of guests on my turf and welcome them during their visit. What ever happened to our good ol’ southern hospitality, even if those New Hampshire men are in fact Yankees?
The first bullet of JMU’s defining characteristics is “The university will serve our state, region, and nation…” What does this statement tell us?
Being a Duke is not about being all locked up in our little whirlwind of our Harrisonburg campus, but about reaching out to others outside of our community in an effort to better their experiences. There is no room in this statement for screaming obscenities at the opposing team. Behavior of this nature is disrespectful to not only the other players, but to the name of JMU.
Like many other Dukes, my love for JMU borders on obsession. Everything about JMU, from education to peers to activities – not to mention food – has consistently proven to be nothing less than outstanding. JMU truly owns a share of my heart forever, and I am proud of the merit-filled legacy that has been and continues to be made here. So because of my love for my school, I refuse to partake in this behavior that so horrendously exploits its precious name.
Last Saturday, I made a commitment to myself, my fellow Dukes, and our future guest teams to never “boo” the opposing team.
A fair percentage of you are probably sitting intently reading your Breeze and scoffing, “What does this chick think she’s preaching about? It’s just a fun, harmless activity to show our support at the game.”
Regardless of what you like to tell yourself, this boils down to a very serious respect issue. Countless faculty and students alike have toiled through tribulations – even sweated under Saturday suns – for many years to make and maintain JMU’s excellent name. How dare we defame something so stalwart? I certainly cannot picture President James Madison jumping up and down in the stands hollering expletives or even remarks about certain manners of “servicing.”
To you who participate in this kind of behavior, you assume that you are being some great superstar by standing up and yelling profanities at the other team. In actuality, you are sowing seeds that make us all look like tasteless idiots. I urge you to examine your motivation behind demeaning the other team. Do you have so little faith in our own well-practiced, naturally talented Dukes that you feel the need to ice the other team?
To those who shout and scream from the stands, “Let’s go, JMU!” and paint their entire bodies purple should not yell sloppy comments to the other team in the name of spirit.
Ask yourself, ask your roommates, ask your friends: are we going to boldly brave it out in the burning heat (or freezing cold, for that matter), and cheer our Dukes on to victory, or will we assist them in ruining their reputations as well as our own?
Sarah Teach is a sophomore dietetics major.
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