Fan Behavior at School’s Hockey games, too far?

After attending a couple of BGSU Men’s Hockey games this fall, and watching an ethical presentation by Cody and Marcus got me thinking. Do fans take it too far at sporting events?

Now this topic could go a million different ways, but I’d like to focus on mainly BGSU Men’s Hockey. I was outraged after attending this past weekend’s hockey games versus Alaska. Yes we split the series 1-1, but the real tragedy came with how some of the fans handled themselves during the game.

To start with, why to fans boo the referees as soon as they come out on the ice? Why make them hate the fans even before a foul is called? Wouldn’t it make sense to just leisurely clap for the referees when they came onto the ice? Nope, apparently hockey fans hate all referees, which makes no sense to me, because I would rather welcome the referees to the game hoping to get a better call in our favor for the game. And with our dismal 1 - 8 - 1 record, you would think we would want every call we could get to go in our favor.

Next you have the obnoxious fan that has no regard for what they say. Obviously I was sitting in the student section cheering on the falcons every chance I could, but there was always these two hooligans who were heckling the Alaska goalie throughout the whole game. (Some of the following language may not be suitable for all ages) Every time there was a break in play, these two men would insult Scott Greenham, the goalie, calling him an orphan, a bitch, and a no body. They didn’t stop there. They even went as far as making homosexual remarks about Greenham. As a student of the university, I wanted these two kids thrown out of the arena, but no security action was taken. I felt they were an embarrassment to the school and team.

Now I also think that some of the chants used during the hockey game by the whole student section could also be thrown out. In case you aren’t a hockey fan, whenever a player on the opposing team gets a penalty and goes to the penalty box, all the student section cheers, “See ya, bye bye, jackass!” or something to that nature. It may seem all in good fun, but I really think it is in poor taste. Yelling profanity at the player doesn’t affect them as much as we would think, no one is going to take off their skate and stab somebody with it. And yes, I have heard all this wacky things said.

Hockey already has a poor reputation as being a violent crude sport. I feel that if some of the chants were taken away and the students’ sportsmanship was a little more sincere, the hockey could still be just as exciting. I don’t think that just because we are college students is a good enough excuse anymore. We are young adults, and acting like Imbecile in public doesn’t help our reputation that much. I know it would be a long shot to change the “traditions” of BGSU Hockey, but it’s worth a chance.