While the comment, "Ann Arbor is a whore!" might receive baffled or slightly angered responses from those who do not fully understand its connotations, the phrase's meaning and intent are immediately apparent to any red-blooded Wisconsin fan. Recently, this type of fan support has come under increased scrutiny by the University of Wisconsin administration. The University of Wisconsin athletic department sent e-mails to both hockey and basketball season ticket holders last week to remind all to refrain from unsportsmanlike behavior in each team's upcoming contests. The e-mail requested that students "be classy, be positive and represent themselves well."
The request by the athletic department is certainly not overbearing or threatening, and what it asks for is fairly reasonable. Yet to assume that most students are going to follow its suggestions to the letter would be more than a little naíve. It is this discrepancy between administrative expectations and student behavioral norms that highlight a debate over the past few years at Wisconsin and other college campuses regarding fan behavior at athletic events. Though there are certainly logical arguments on the administration's side, they are essentially fighting a misguided battle and should change their goals in regards to changing student behavior at athletic events. In other words, students should be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed creative autonomy in regards to both cheers and taunts.
Before launching into a support of the students, there are certainly a few caveats to this argument that should be noted. First, any person, regardless of team affiliation, that uses violence or physical intimidation at an event should not only be thrown out, but should face the legal ramifications as well. No matter how much one's personal self-esteem or ego ride on a Wisconsin victory, there is no justification for threatening or injuring another person.
Second, insults to opposing fans should be kept to generalities. To all the diehard sports fans out there, here is a bit of reality: no matter how loud you screamed at the game, or how long you waited in line for tickets, or the amount of paint you crammed onto your body, a victory for Wisconsin is in no way a reflection of your individual efforts. While fans certainly can have an effect on the outcome of the game, evidenced by the road records of Big Ten basketball teams this year, one person's individual contribution is so diffused in value that it is essentially meaningless. You are not any cooler because you sat in the front row or because you wore Brian Calhoun's jersey the game he ran it in five times. This property goes both ways as well, meaning that no person supporting the losing team actually decreases in self-worth either, rendering personal insults a moronic expression of team pride.
In spite of the above stipulations, any reasonable Wisconsin fan should have no problem being able to behave in a way that would not terribly embarrass the administration and still stick it to the opposing team in a manner that would make your friends proud and your parents unable to decide if they should laugh or shake their heads. The administration's goals should be to make sporting events a place where everyone can feel safe and free from individual harassment, rather than remove all forms of negative speech. Thus, it is unnecessary to limit chants to those that solely support Wisconsin or to seek to proscribe every word that might be a little risqué.
For instance, is there anything substantively wrong with yelling "Ann Arbor is a whore" at a group of Michigan fans? Or telling a group sporting Minnesota sweatshirts that your hillbilly uncle considers gophers a delicacy? Almost everyone can enjoy creative and amusing repartee, even if it comes at one's own expense. The lesson to be learned for Wisconsin fans and administrators alike is that it is not always a bad thing to push the envelope. So the next time you are sitting at a game, remember that safety and creativity are key and that personal insults are reserved for those bastards in section O.
Mike Skelly ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in finance and political science.
