With the game winding down to a lackluster finish and the
outcome no longer in jeopardy, referees blew the whistle against
Michael Fey in last week’s season opener against New Mexico
State. Immediately, the displeasure in the student section became
apparent, regardless of the obviousness or insignificance of the
foul.
“Bull@&*!, Bull@&*!,” the hackneyed voices
groaned.
The chant wasn’t part of a rare profanity-laced tirade.
It’s just a frequent by-product of an unimaginative group of
potty mouths eager to show off its PG-13 vocabulary. It’s
tasteless, tactless, and more embarrassing than failing
sociology.
“It makes me cringe,” athletic director Dan Guerrero
said. “I want students to be supportive and vocal and create
an intimidating atmosphere. But when they use foul language, it
crosses the line.”
Needless to say, that’s not the only chant in Westwood
that crosses the line. Every year, leading up to the crosstown
rivalry football game, students take it upon themselves to shout
“F*!@ SC” at the sight of red shirts and end of
eight-claps. The traditional slogan is “Beat
‘SC”, but the student section seems to pride itself on
the expansive one-syllable vernacular that comes with a college
education.
During the NMSU game, students chanted at a prepubescent boy
wearing a USC sweatshirt. Granted the child was probably starving
for attention and good parenting, but that didn’t warrant the
vulgarity thrown at him. When the kid responded by raising two
fingers that symbolize the Trojan “Fight On” moniker,
UCLA students replied with a middle finger of their own. Hard to
tell who the child was.
“We expect our program to run with class and represent
this university with distinction,” Guerrero said.
“Those are things that we should not compromise. To have it
tainted by those kind of things is unfortunate.”
The saddest thing is that it’s next to impossible to
prevent these juvenile displays. All it takes is one bad apple to
rile up a whole section.
Of course, the bull@&*! chant can be heard at other campuses
and in other sports too. But it really is worse at UCLA. Covering
Bruin basketball last year, I heard more obscenities in a couple of
home games than in an entire year’s worth of road contests.
And it’s not because the officials are biased against the
Bruins in Pauley.
“It makes us look like real stupid fans,” said Marc
Sawyer, president of UCLA’s official student fan group, the
Den.
To try to mitigate all this toilet talk, Sawyer’s group
created “Dirt from the Den” a few years ago. This
flyer, handed to students before every football and basketball
contest, offers clever chants for students to direct at particular
athletes on the opposing team. Last year for instance, the Den
chanted “˜sell-out’ at Oregon’s Malik Hairston,
who allegedly chose the school in part because of its close
affiliation with Nike. Two years ago, it hoisted up candy wrappers
for Arizona’s Isiah Fox, who had earlier been caught stealing
a bagel and Hershey bar from a convenience store.
“It gives an alternative means for cheering,” Sawyer
said. “Something a little more intelligent.”
With the Bruins gaining more national exposure, it’d be
nice if students showcased more of their intellect and less of
their immaturity. The only chant requiring a four-letter word
should be UCLA.
Finley thinks bad apples belong in a trash can, namely the
campus a few miles away. E-mail him at afinley@media.ucla.edu if
you agree.