UConn Basketball: It's Not Bad Sportsmanship, It's Home Court Advantage

While working on my English paper tonight, my Facebook starts to blow up about an editorial written in today's issue of The Daily Campus, the on-campus paper here at the University of Connecticut.

The article had no name assigned to it, leaving the author anonymous. It can be found here: http://www.dailycampus.com/commentary/editorial-student-section-needs-more-sportsmanship-1.2011403

I have to say, this is honestly one of the most pathetic things I have ever read in my entire life.

The author trashes the student section of the UConn basketball program, directing most of his attention to the fans at the men's games. He begins by commenting on the pre-game introductions of the visiting team during which, as he describes it, "the entire student section will turn their backs to the court, yelling 'Sucks!' after each player's name is announced. This creates the effect of the sentence being, for example, 'Marshon Brooks sucks!' – which is not only rude, but completely false."

Well, anyone who says Marshon Brooks sucks and means it is an idiot. I am a diehard college basketball fan and a regular in the first or second row at both UConn men's and women's games, so I have an idea of how factual the statement is about who sucks. The students at the games in general, helped by their intellect which got them into such a good school, are pretty knowledgeable about basketball. Here are just a few of the names that have been followed by "sucks" in our introductions: Scotty Hopson (Tennessee), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Peyton Siva (Louisville), Scoop Jardine (Syracuse), Corey Fischer (Villanova) and Marshon Brooks (Providence). These are all incredibly gifted basketball players. We have said the same for Brittany Griner (Baylor), Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame) and Jasmine Thomas (Duke) on the women's side. They are all exceptional players as well.

The usage of the turning around and yelling "sucks!" is merely to mess with the opposing team and to get them rattled before the game. After all, it is our house and no fan base is going to let a team come in to their home arena, be they Duke or Cal State Poly, and let them think they can easily take the game. It does not matter if the Huskies are #14 in the country. As the author argued, we are going to scream our lungs out and be as rowdy as possible because we love our team and want them to succeed. Especially playing in a conference like the Big East, no game is ever easy. The players will play their game but the fans are an essential part of that game. Jim Calhoun calls the fans the team's "6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th man."

Continuing the home court argument, I want to criticize the author's assessment of what we have begun to do during timeouts. The opposing teams have made the mistake of bringing chairs out onto the court, rather close to the student section. Providence and Georgetown are two big rivals and we want to beat them-naturally we are going to give the team as much help as possible.

He writes, "But student section behavior has taken a turn for the worse in the last few games, with the recently-developed practice of yelling as loudly as possible during timeouts. The goal is to drown out the sound of the opposing coach's speech to his players during the timeout, since the opposing team is always seated on the half of the court closest to the student section."

Sir, if there was no such thing as home-court advantage, teams would not alternate the venue of competition each year. Fans are supposed to help their team to victory. As long as the cheering and jeering does not get racial, derogatory in any way, or threatening, what harm is there in helping the team you pay to see play? This is the team that some of us wait hours in the cold to see, as close to the floor as possible. We want to win every game, and we are going to help our team to victory as best we can!

The author follows their argument of what he calls poor sportsmanship with this: "With the men's basketball team ranked as the 14th-best team in the country in this week's Associated Press rankings, we should be able to beat most teams purely on the basis of our skill. No other factor should play a role when it comes to deciding which team triumphs at the end of the day."

This person must obviously not watch sports in general. Ever heard of the Cameron Crazies? The Duke Blue Devils are #1 and their student section is impossible to compare to. They are another level. There is nonstop screaming and cheering in that lower ring of Cameron Indoor from warm-ups to the last buzzer. They are the definition of passion.

Look at the other top teams. Kansas, Ohio State, Pitt, Texas and Purdue all have incredible teams, but they also have incredible student sections which make it difficult for visitors.

Another thing. We look at the end of the season and judge a team based on how they perform on the road. What effect would that have if everyone sat quietly the whole game? Why not just play at a neutral site equidistant from the two campuses and allot each school an equal number of tickets? That would be horrible for the game.

I look to another student section at UConn. I am also a proud active member of Goal Patrol, the group of loyal fans for the men's soccer team. We are the 12th man for that team in my opinion. We are loud and crazy from warm-ups until we leave that stadium. We distract the goalie, but we keep it clean. We just want our team to win, which they did. The nationally renowned Huskies lost once at home in 2010.

There is a reason every team has a home stadium or arena. They are meant to have a slight advantage there. Their fans want them to win and will cheer them on and make life difficult for the other team. Does that make it poor sportsmanship? No. Its passion for your team and the game. Being a passionate, loud, crazy fan, or as Geno Auriemma calls us sometimes, "knuckleheads," does not mean you are a poor sport. Yelling while the other team is shooting or distracting them during a timeout or free throw is part of the game, part of the home court advantage. It is not derogatory or threatening. It would be different if someone was threatening to kill someone if they make the shot or if they were harassing a player for their background.

In Connecticut, we do not like the Steelers for the most part. Therefore, when the UConn women played Oklahoma on Valentine's Day, and Ben Roethlisberger's sister took the court for the Sooners, we did not make jokes claiming her brother was a rapist (referring to the investigation of rape in 2010). We made jokes about him losing the Super Bowl by chanting "Let's Go Packers," or by making football references such as "interception" or "fumble." Where is the harm in that?

To the writer of that editorial: you are entitled to your opinion, but what you are proposing is ridiculous. You claim that we passionate fans are unsportsmanlike and rude. Jeering the other team is part of sports and always has been, especially among rivals. In England, Liverpool and Chelsea do not like each other. Liverpool fans like to bash Chelsea with this song:

"F*** off Chelsea FC

You ain't got no history

Five European Cups and 18 League

Now that's what I call history!"

Sure, some words in there are not so nice, but they do not harm somebody or threaten them in any way. Where is the harm in banter between two rivals, so long as it is not violent, threatening, or verbally offensive by means of hateful words?

Everyone wants their team to win, and jeering the opposing team has been a part of sports for as long as sports have existed. Sometimes fans can go overboard, but what we do here at the University of Connecticut, home to one of the elite sporting programs, is nothing more than passion, fun, and love for our team. We want to give them as much of an advantage as possible. When UConn goes on the road, the opposing fans feel the same way and will help their team try to beat UConn. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. It's not like everyone has a perfect home record. To call it an "unfair advantage" is absurd. Like I said, home-court advantage is an essential component to sports and should not be frowned upon.