Letters to the Editor

JMU fans were 'obnoxious' at WVU

I went to see my beloved Mountaineers of West Virginia University play your Dukes today. The only tickets left were near the visitors’ section.

Shortly before the game, it occurred to me that there could be good natured verbal sparring. We were supposed to win big, after all — your fans probably realized it also was in their interest to be good natured. I was buoyed with a feeling of good sportsmanship.

It didn’t take long for that feeling to get squelched. On JMU’s first series, someone on your side of the aisle started giving the guy behind me a hard time because JMU had more first downs. Someone else joined him.

The banter continued throughout the first quarter. Why would your fans mouth off like this surrounded by home team fans? I felt myself growing irritated. JMU is way outclassed, take the banter with a grain of salt, I told myself. But the arrogant comments, the exaggerated cheering and chanting "Overrated!" put me over the top. I didn’t have to be a good hostess anymore; these were the most obnoxious visitors I have seen since the University of Notre Dame was in town.

Now, it became fun to stand up and cheer facing your suddenly very quiet section, to keep cheering and to take delight in the silence of such an arrogant, snobby, obnoxious bunch of fans. I even felt myself hoping we’d pour it on instead of putting in the second and third string, but, of course, we didn’t.

Cathy Meighen
Morgantown, W.V.

Streamers at football games start new tradition

For the thousands of JMU fans at the Lock Haven University football game this year, you probably

noticed something different — a trial run of 1,000 purple and gold streamers flying through the air. Through grassroots work by students and proud alumni, it has been made possible for streamers to be passed out at all of the home games this year. Nearly 2,000 streamers will litter the stands of Bridgeforth Stadium for each remaining game this season.

What I ask of the student body, first and foremost, is to come to the game and support your Dukes.

With a strong 2-1 start to the year, the Dukes are ready for a big year and playoff run. I ask that you arrive half an hour early, as festivities and pre-game introductions begin 30 minutes before kickoff. The streamers will be thrown as the team marches onto the field to the "JMU Fight Song."

This can become a tradition that we all can be proud of, and we can say years from now that we were involved in starting it. To my knowledge, no other Division I program in the country does this. We can blaze the trail and promote school spirit — it just takes half an hour of your time.

The next JMU home game is this Saturday, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. as your Dukes face off against the Hofstra Pride.

Christopher Nahlik
senior kinesiology major