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Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Obnoxious fans need to zip it
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maya Moore and Collins Hill are classy champions. That doesn’t mean it is extended into the crowd.
During Friday’s AAAAA championship game, homosexual slurs and over-the-top personal insults directed toward South Gwinnett players were overheard coming from the Collins Hill student section.
The chants included: “She is ugly,” “[Jersey number] weighs a ton,” “[Jersey number] go back to the zoo,” and “What a [homosexual slur].”
Collins Hill athletic director Roland Wallace said no one complained or informed any school officials of the fans’ behavior.
Collins Hill fans are not alone in their disrespecting of the athletes. And not every Eagle fan is an immature idiot. But there was a large crop of them wearing hard hats and green on Friday.
Similar chants from other student sections have been heard during the recent tournament season. Two Parkview fans were escorted out of a region tournament game at Berkmar. Apparently, police had to go up into the Centennial crowd during their Class AAAAA boys final later Friday, according to Wallace. But just because everyone’s doing it doesn’t make it right.
For the fans of a team that has won three consecutive titles, you would think the Collins Hill students would know how to act like they’ve been there before
Recently, high school officials in the state of Washington took measures to control crowd conduct, going as far as to put ban on booing. It seemed a little much at first, but after cringing with each blurted-out insult during Friday’s title tilt, something needs to be done.
GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin said he didn’t know a way to enforce a ban on booing. But how hard would it be for the school officials to monitor the student sections behavior?
For me, the crowd’s obnoxious behavior tarnished a chance to see Moore’s incredible high school career come to a close. I was more worried about what the crowd was going to say next than actually getting to enjoy the game.
Ultimately, who should be responsible for preventing this type of behavior? Wallace says crowd conduct is something the state should monitor. But doesn’t having each school be responsible for the fans’ behavior seem more efficient?
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