By Dannielle Lowe
Sometimes cheering can go too far.
During the Oct. 26 women's soccer game against San Diego, a fan seated in the student section made a remark referencing the California fire disaster. No one remembers exactly what was said, but all agreed the fan was out of line.
According to Assistant Athletic Director Buzz Stroud, a report filed with the athletic office confirmed the rumors. However, as of Tuesday, school officials had yet to track the perpetrator down. The University is in the mist of conducting investigations. Whether the student, when identified, will be punished for the inappropriate remark is still to be decided.
"There isn't a rule that says 'if you say this, the punishment is this,'" Stroud said. "It's handled on a case-by-case basis."
According to junior Don Cole, fans were talking about making comments regarding the fire at the games, but ideas were quickly shot down due to their inappropriateness.
"We were talking about cheers, and we decided not to cheer or say that stuff as a cheer," Cole said. "So we told people not to."
Yet one fan must not have gotten the memo.
"One stupid guy felt he had to go and say something about the fires," sophomore Joe Price said. "It was something like 'at least we have homes to go home to.'"
Other versions circulating about the comment stated the fan said "go home to your fires" or "go burn in your fires."
This year, negative cheering, has not been a huge problem at University of Portland athletic events, according to Stroud. Instead, the majority of the few complaints received refer to inappropriate language as the offense.
"We encourage students to act in a sportsmanship-like manner," Stroud said. "The vast majority of students do that. All it takes is one or two individuals to create a perception that negative comments are commonplace."
According to Cole, a member of the Villa Drum Squad, big crowds make it easier for students to shout derogatory comments. He said that some of the guys can get obnoxious and say some pretty harsh things.
Yet for the most part, the student fans try to keep the comments sports related. Cole believes creating cheers that get in an opposing athlete's head is just an important part of the game.
"We get that there is an NCAA rule that does not allow us to criticize one player," Cole said. "But getting in people's heads that's a part of basketball, football, baseball - it's just a part of sports and being a good, rowdy fan."
Most athletic fans will attest to the fact that cheering is an important part of any game and that, unfortunately, negative cheering is another part of the game. Yet most students and the administration agree that some things just shouldn't be said.
"Negative cheering is a part of any game to a certain extent," Price said. "But it shouldn't go that far especially when thousands of people have just lost their homes."
In an article published by the NCAA regarding sportsmanship and fan conduct, the bottom line is students should cheer for the home team, not against other teams.
The Purple Pride honor pledge echoes this idea by stating that students should not get personal in comments and avoid the use of profanity, vulgarity, racist and sexist comments. Rather, students should focus on being loud, proud and positive.
