Grant Wahl at CNNSI.com examines the overly negative attacks that college basketball fans are levying on visiting players. He focuses particularly on the anti-gay chants and messages that some of these vulgar sociopaths are using to make those visiting players feel like crap:
There may not be nearly as many incidents of racism and anti-Semitism in college arenas as there were in the 1960s, but in the year 2008 many fans are waving anti-gay signs, which often appear on national TV broadcasts. Last month a Pittsburgh fan held up a BROKEBACK MOUNTAINEERS sign when the Panthers met rival West Virginia. And when Kansas State hosted Kansas, one prominent sign (partly written in rainbow-colored script) read TIM HARDAWAY STILL HATES KU, a reference to Hardaway’s widely criticized homophobic comments last year. A sign at the UCLA-Oregon game proclaimed KEVIN LOVES JOHN AMAECHI, suggesting a link between Love and the openly gay former NBA player.
Some of these players who are having to experience this are actually gay (not to mention the many fans who are gay as well who have to sit through this. How long will it take the NCAA and conferences to do something about this? We’ll see. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
on Feb 28th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Glad this is being addressed. We had a blog post on the abuse UCLA’s Kevin Love took when he played at Oregon:
http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/?p=486
on Feb 29th, 2008 at 3:50 am
The best part is that Love didn’t let the fans affect him and basically crushed Oregon, which was indeed a powerful statement to the apparently not-so-clever Pit Crew at U of O.
One incident which comes to mind was a couple years ago at the football game against some school in LA famous for its OJs. Their lovely fans–including a grown man there with what appeared to be his wife–were adorned with shirts that said “UCLGay,” usually accompanied by very smug faces. How incredibly witty they are! I wasn’t particularly surprised by the classless display, sadly. Thankfully, their campus LGBT center I believe decided to take action… dunno whether or not it actually worked.
on Mar 1st, 2008 at 12:23 am
I thought Tyler Hansbrough quote was interesting in regards to the gay baiting.
“A lot of [people on] campuses talk about equal rights,” Hansbrough says, “but it seems like, when students get together at a big event, [their behavior] goes against what colleges are saying.”
on Mar 4th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Like Hansbrough, JJ Redick was taunted non-stop while he was at Duke, and was very gracious and not offended at all by it. Mmmmm what I wouldn’t do to be double-teamed by those 2 gorgeous open-minded b-ballers!