Opinion

Crossing a line

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University of Wisconsin football fans, proud of their school and known for their game-day enthusiasm, now have something of which to be ashamed. The Badger faithful are starting to garner a reputation of not just being passionate fans, but also being an extremely hostile game-day mob.

This reputation began to emerge following numerous recent incidents of bad crowd behavior. According to Chancellor John Wiley in an Oct. 24 interview, the UW administration has received an appalling number of complaints this year from visitors upset with the poor behavior of UW fans.

The stories visiting fans tell go on and on: One father and his 7-year-old son were surrounded and harassed by a group of UW students on Regent Street. The UW students refused to leave the pair alone, eventually throwing glass bottles at their feet. The boy was so upset by this behavior that he cried and begged to be brought home.

An elderly couple walking in the Breese Terrace area after parking their car was harassed so badly by UW students that they turned around and went home. After driving for hours to get to Madison, they never even witnessed the game.

Several Purdue students were pushed to the ground by a group of UW students, who took away the Purdue flag the students had been carrying, broke it and whipped it back at them.

An Ohio State fan wrote to The Badger Herald to say his experience as a visiting fan included having cans and bottles thrown at him while band members in uniform made crude gestures at him.

These incidents should make members of the UW fanbase take pause. The behavior of a few reflects on the entire community, and this type of behavior is inexcusable. While chanting “asshole” at opposing fans before the game is accepted, surrounding and verbally harassing children and senior citizens to the point where they are scared is simply unacceptable. Even more so, visiting fans should never be physically assaulted in any way, nor should their property be destroyed.

While creating an intimidating atmosphere is an important and strongly encouraged part of any college game day, certain lines should never be crossed. We ask our fellow fans to cheer loudly but recognize the bounds of decency.