Opinion: Derogatory comments take the fun out of supporting our Ducks
At the University of Oregon, athletics is an essential aspect of our culture. Few things top an Autzen hotdog or performing “Shout” with your friends. However, when shielded by the anonymity of the student section, some people take their school pride a bit too far.
Targeted toward opposing players, members of our student section often make excessively rude and personal comments. These are entirely invalid comments to make, and additionally, athletes deserve to be treated with common decency, as they are people with emotions and insecurities just like the rest of us.
To nobody’s surprise, some of the most disrespectful comments I’ve heard were made at the men’s basketball game against OSU.
“Fix those braids, man,” said one white UO student to a Black OSU player.
“Is your number [15] your preferred age?” asked another.
Another student said, “24 is how many hamburgers you ate before coming tonight.”
No matter the circumstance, shouting these questions and statements at another person is inappropriate. The personal commentary adds nothing to the game or anybody else’s spectating experience. I understand and support making punchy comments towards our opponents, but they should be focused on the game at hand, not their appearance or personal lives.
Additionally, in comparison to the NCAA’s sportsmanship guidelines, UO’s student section fails to live up to the national standard of positivity.
The guidelines state, “Today, values such as respect, caring, fairness, civility, honesty, integrity and responsibility are key to creating a positive competitive environment for student-athletes across the country. Individual schools and conferences are responsible for creating and maintaining positive competitive environments for student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans at their sponsored events.”
Other than the usual handful of troublemakers, most fans agree that sportsmanship starts in the student section.
“Some of the commentary made about other teams is too negative,” UO first-year Gianna Alberico said. “I understand it to a certain extent, but yelling harmful things can have an effect on their game. It’s not really fair.”
Even when it comes to players on our team, some fans take their mishaps too seriously, dwelling on inconsequential mistakes.
“Athletes are just people at the end of the day,” Alberico said. “They make mistakes. You try going out on that court and doing what they do. It’s hard.”
We see a similar lack of empathy regarding fan reactions to player injuries. For example, during last season’s home football game against Cal, our student section continued talking loudly, dancing and even cracking jokes while Cal freshman Jaivian Thomas lay unconscious on the field for multiple minutes, immobilized from a neck injury.
Despite Thomas’ possibly life-threatening condition, our student section chose to ignore the severity of the situation at hand. As some fans fail to see players — especially when they’re playing for the opposing team — as fully human, they don’t feel the need to take athlete health seriously, whether it be mental or physical.
The practice of court-storming further demonstrates student fans’ lack of concern for players. Most recently, Wake Forest fans injured Duke player Kyle Filipowski when they immediately flooded the court after Wake Forest’s game-winning play.
NBA veteran Austin Rivers recently spoke on the issue of reckless court-storming on his podcast, Off Guard. “Let’s just try to control the chaos … Keep the college spirit, but make sure the players are safe. Get them off [the court], then let the kids storm,” Rivers said.
Rivers’ co-host Pausha Haghighi shared his perspective on worsening fan behavior in recent years. “There’s been a different level over the past few years of fans disrespecting either coaches or players … People just say crazy things … They feel like they’re at the zoo,” Haghighi said.
Haghighi has a point here. When fans see athletes as existing purely for their entertainment, they treat them accordingly, legitimizing excessively rude and vulgar commentary and general disrespect. Despite their fame and talent, athletes are just people doing their jobs at the end of the day, and dealing with constant harassment isn’t included in their contracts.
With the spring season on the horizon, try to keep your UO pride from turning sour. Have fun, show off those gameday fits and support our Ducks in the way they deserve: with respect.