I've posted this once before on the facebook page directed at QU sports fans, and incited no response. Maybe this will garner one...
The chants coming from our student section at basketball games of "USA! USA!" directed at opposition not from our country have to stop. Besides the inherent ignorance of such comments, the recent history of bigoted actions at Quinnipiac is very real. Or did we all forget the comments left on various dormitory white boards?
The near xenophobia shown by these students while they slander the opposition paints the community negatively. I love a good trash talker. As an athlete and licensed official I would get in the ear of competitors and officials at near every opportunity. The country they were born in was never a topic of my jawing. Nor should it be of our student section. We like to paint our university as an upstanding institution, yet continued actions of this minority of students goes a long way in destroying our reputation to both other institutions and to the Hamden community. I have a professor, whom I will refrain from naming, that works at Hamden High and teaches night classes here at QU. He told me that Hamden thinks of QU students as, and this is a near direct quote, spoiled drunkards who bring down our property value. That may be one man's attempt at a bad joke, but the most interaction a lot of people have with QU students is at our lovely TD Bank center. Oh, and many of them have their children with them.
Jeremy
As one of the more boisterous members of the student section here at QU, I feel the need to respond to this.
ReplyDeleteAs a senior, I understand that QU's history of race relations isn't exactly sparkling. However, what's disconcerting to me is the comparison between chants of "USA USA USA" to the use of the N-word on students' whiteboards and the hanging of nooses on their doors. I think those are two wildly different situations and lumping one in with the other is wrong and unfair.
Like yourself, I was an athlete and have also umpired Little League and high school age baseball for 8 years. We seem to agree that trash talking is part of the game, and also that someone's nation of origin isn't typically brought up in that banter. But, though I hate to say it, things are different as a spectator. As a Quinnipiac student and fan, my goal is to make the TD Bank Sports Center a hostile environment in which to play, thereby helping my team win. I, as do most people I'm with at the games, do whatever we can to get under the skin of an opponent. One of my favorite moments as a fan at this school was getting cursed out by FDU's Sean Baptiste (who also went to my rival high school) after a Bobcat win. I got in his head, and I didn't say anything inappropriate to him throughout the entire game.
If you think that chanting "USA USA USA" at non-American opponents is too far, I respect your opinion. Personally, I think there are far more inflammatory things that can be, and are, said at college sporting events around the country (If you don't believe me, take a crash course in lip reading and watch the Duke-Maryland game on ESPN Wednesday night). Maybe that doesn't make it right, but we're talking about students at a college basketball game. We don't swear, and I think we try to keep it as family friendly an atmosphere as possible. Ask the parents of the little kid that spends the better portion of games in the front row with us. I don't think any of us intend to come across as xenophobic or bigoted, but if we do I'll apologize on behalf of all of us.
As far as the Hamden community's opinion on QU's student body goes, I've heard the same stories you have. All I can really say is that, if someone is forming their opinions on the two hours they spend observing a small percentage of us at a basketball game, there's really nothing I can do about that. I'd hope that the passion I show for my school says more about me.
Again, if we've offended you or anybody else with our chants, I apologize. All we're trying to do is bring the NEC championship game back to Hamden this year. If there's anything else you'd like to address with me, I'll gladly continue this dialogue face-to-face. I'll be the redhead in gold sitting in the front row at every basketball home game the rest of the season.
-Corey
First off, thank you for a well thought out and civil reply. On the Quad News and QU Chronicle websites my even semi-controversial remarks are often met with sarcasm or poor insults by other contributors, so I appreciate the chance at a dialogue. That’s why I started the blog.
ReplyDeleteThe N word scrawlings of 2009 were a severe blow to our reputation locally, nearly as bad as the university came off in the New York Times article about our censorship of the Chronicle that lead to Quad News. I do not find the situations wildly different, however. I think they are both ill conceived. I think they both are shallow and over the line of what should be acceptable from an educated populous of young people. They are not on the same level, I do agree, but I think the former event is worth mention.
Funnily enough, I’m a Duke fan. There are plenty of times I’ve seen fans go overboard insulting Duke players, namely J.J. Redick. I’ve only been to Duke road games and have only been in Cameron Indoor while it was empty, but the Crazies there have a class to them. It’s about cheering for your team and cheering against the other team. Not unjustly insulting them. I absolutely loved when somebody in the crowd got on the St. Francis player, #40 I believe, for getting his third foul right before half. Then more jeering when he got his fourth a few minutes into the second half. That’s creative, still gets in his head, and is not unduly offensive.
I think the root of our difference in opinion here lies in what we see the spectators’ role in the game. I want an NEC championship as bad as anybody at QU, but I also know it’s won on the court by people much more adept at basketball than I. I feel that you and the people chanting “USA USA!” do more to tarnish the opinion of the world at large of the QU student body than you do to get in the head of the opponent. And its uncreative if nothing else.
I have never been a fan of the National Anthem at sporting events. I think it’s out of place to attempt to incite patriotism when I’m trying to enjoy myself, but I feel the same way about people who scream “Let’s Go Q!!” before the anthem is complete. I get clapping and cheering and being excited, but disrespecting the person singing is beyond excitement for the game.
I’ll be at every home game, just like I have been since returning from abroad. I was at two road games this year and hope to make it to LIU this weekend. I’ll be the red head in the gold probably a few rows behind you, I can never seem to beat Matthias there. I hope to continue this…or at least say hey.
-Jeremy