One of my fondest memories as a sports fan also contains one of my most shameful moments as a human being. Go figure, I know. Upon first reading, I’m sure that sounds a bit paradoxical. Let me explain.
It was a Saturday afternoon in May 2007, and I was sitting with a friend at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs take on the White Sox. If you don’t have any experience with this crosstown rivalry, well, let’s just say it’s quite intense.
Sitting one row behind us and slightly off to my right were two White Sox fans. They had been loudly talking smack throughout the game’s first seven innings, causing my blood to bubble near its boiling point.
The White Sox led 6-5 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, which obviously had me seething even more. The Cubs, however, quickly took back the lead, and first baseman Derrek Lee stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded. He was just coming back from injury, and his first swing was one of the most awkward I’ve ever seen.
We wanted a grand slam from our star player, but at that moment it seemed too much to ask. The count moved to 3-1, and then it happened. He hit the ball over the wall and we went absolutely bananas.
In that moment, I lost my mind. I jumped up and down, then turned to face the aforementioned White Sox fans. I don’t think I can print any of the things I screamed, but rest assured they weren’t kind. To this day, I don’t know what got into me. What I do know is that the two fans left shortly afterwards, much to my delight at the time.
By now, if you haven’t turned away already, you are probably wondering why I have so painstakingly recounted this story for you. Well, as you may have heard, in this past month’s issue of GQ Magazine, Oregon’s basketball fans were ranked as the 14th “Most Obnoxious Fans in America.” They took their place on this list alongside such reviled fan bases as the New York Yankees, the Duke Blue Devils and the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to GQ’s criteria, Oregon basketball fans are “hecklers from hell” known for “vicious taunting” and “projectile launching.” The article went on to describe the now infamous 2008 incident with Kevin Love, when student fans threw food at his family and were so cruel in their insults that his grandmother was brought to tears.
The incident drew national attention and there have been no repeat incidents of such absurd behavior as a result. Yet, I can recall various instances of less vicious but still questionable behavior from games this season. Chanting “No means no” at a player accused of sexual assault, for example, cannot happen anymore.
In short, placement on such a well-known magazine’s list of shame illustrates that Oregon’s image problem has yet to disappear, and fans should take this as a sign that there is plenty of room for improvement.
We tend to treat the sporting world as its own separate bubble, free of life’s conventional rules and schools of thought. Within this bubble, it’s perfectly acceptable to drink yourself into oblivion in public, eat like a pig and, yes, scream hateful insults at complete strangers.
This trend cannot continue, in Eugene or elsewhere.
Soon after my aforementioned explosion at the Cubs game, I realized how amazingly wrong these actions were, and that being caught up in the moment had caused me to completely abandon the principles that had been instilled in me since birth.
I suspect this was also the case for many Oregon fans on that fateful night back in 2008. Make no mistake, I am not reciting excuses for anyone, myself included. There is no place anywhere in the world for mean-spirited taunting and abuse, and we should all know better. But speaking from personal experience, I know that this is easier said than done.
Heckling and taunting is such an integral part of the broader sporting universe that it has become something of an afterthought. GQ’s article should serve as a wake up call for every Oregon fan.
We are much better than this and it is past time to prove it.
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