- November 5th, 2007, 10:52 pm
#125189
Let me first say that I have complete faith in Jeff, Mickey, Kevin, and whoever else is involved in this that the right thing will be done, but I want your opinion on this.
We have talked about people getting on our cases for yelling things in the stands before, and I wanted to have one thread about it because it all came to a head tonight at the Barton game. I'm going to explain what happened and try to be as objective as I can. This will probably be a little long, but please read it and give your opinion. Keep things civil. I want a discussion, not a fight.
About a minute and a half into the game tonight, I was threatened to get kicked out by an LUPD officer. Barton's coach was on the floor yelling at the ref and I yelled at him and said, "Sit down and shutup." As I was turned talking to someone else, an LUPD officer came and grabbed my arm and spun me around. Apparently he had tried getting my attention but I didn't hear him, so he grabbed me. He told me if I said shutup again I was going to be removed from the game.
After this situation, I went and found Jeff Barber. I apologized for bothering him while he was with his family, told him what happened, and he said it was the first time he'd heard about it. I asked him if saying shutup was ok and he told me it was. I told him I wasn't cussing and wouldn't do that, he understood, and I went back to my seat. A little while later Mickey walked up to me and asked what happened, I explained, and was told as long as it wasn't cussing or sexual in nature that it was fine. I said ok, and went back about my way.
Later in the second half, I yelled at the coach to shutup again. The LUPD officer just looked ticked off but he didn't say anything. Just because I'm an antagonizing jerk sometimes (I admit it), when one of their players was leaving the court we yelled, "Sit down! Shut up!" when he went to the bench. This brought another LUPD officer to us. He was telling me I couldn't say that. I was pointing out that I was told I could by two people, and was talking with my hands, and since I was higher up than he was, he felt as though I was putting them in his face (understandable looking back on it). He told me to stop being disrespectful to him and I told them to stop being a prick to me and grabbing me, etc (I later apologized to him and the other officer but we'll get to that in a minute). He relayed that to Kevin Keys and Kevin said something to me about it, and I apologized to Kevin and admitted I lost my cool for a second.
After the game, the original officer came up to me and we started talking. Nothing rude, just a conversation. He was explaining why he told me I couldn't say shutup. Apparently Ron Godwin and Dwayne Carson said we shouldn't say it. He was an older man, and I told him I believed it was a generation thing because shutup is not offensive to us and may be to his generation. We talked about that for a few second. After that, I told him that Jeff and Mickey told me I could say it, and until they say otherwise, I will. I also said that last year they asked us not to say the word "suck" and we have obeyed that request for the most part (it slips at times). During this conversation, a woman from Barton came up and questioned if I was a Christian or not because I was saying shutup during the game. She questioned what the faith meant on my shirt.
During this whole conversation, Kevin Keys was within ear distance and was listening. He later chimed in and said something along the lines of if we did what every school thought we should do as Christians, we'd be sitting on our hands the entire time. Presby fans complained and said we were rude because our students stood the whole time and waved pom poms. Coastal fans complained because we stood and used thunder sticks and were loud. Some of our fans thought that "Beat Coastal" was degrading to Coastal and we shouldn't do things that could be degrading to the other team.
As the conversation went on, I apologized to the older LUPD officer for what I said (the prick statement), I explained that I lost my cool and apologized for that, and was sincere about the whole thing. I shook his hand, we both said that we wouldn't hold a grudge, etc. As I saw the younger one leaving, I got his attention, apologized to him personally, shook his hand, and we all ended by telling each other to have a good night.
The whole thing boiled down to the fact that the Athletic Department and I guess it's Spiritual Life/Student Affairs will have to have a talk about what can and cannot be said at game. What we think doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I want to know where we draw the line. What is too much? Where is the line? "You suck" is obviously over it. Is yelling at a coach to shutup over the line or is it ok? What is acceptable and what isn't?
Once again, I ask to please keep this civil and a discussion, not a fight. I want to be serious about this one.
We have talked about people getting on our cases for yelling things in the stands before, and I wanted to have one thread about it because it all came to a head tonight at the Barton game. I'm going to explain what happened and try to be as objective as I can. This will probably be a little long, but please read it and give your opinion. Keep things civil. I want a discussion, not a fight.
About a minute and a half into the game tonight, I was threatened to get kicked out by an LUPD officer. Barton's coach was on the floor yelling at the ref and I yelled at him and said, "Sit down and shutup." As I was turned talking to someone else, an LUPD officer came and grabbed my arm and spun me around. Apparently he had tried getting my attention but I didn't hear him, so he grabbed me. He told me if I said shutup again I was going to be removed from the game.
After this situation, I went and found Jeff Barber. I apologized for bothering him while he was with his family, told him what happened, and he said it was the first time he'd heard about it. I asked him if saying shutup was ok and he told me it was. I told him I wasn't cussing and wouldn't do that, he understood, and I went back to my seat. A little while later Mickey walked up to me and asked what happened, I explained, and was told as long as it wasn't cussing or sexual in nature that it was fine. I said ok, and went back about my way.
Later in the second half, I yelled at the coach to shutup again. The LUPD officer just looked ticked off but he didn't say anything. Just because I'm an antagonizing jerk sometimes (I admit it), when one of their players was leaving the court we yelled, "Sit down! Shut up!" when he went to the bench. This brought another LUPD officer to us. He was telling me I couldn't say that. I was pointing out that I was told I could by two people, and was talking with my hands, and since I was higher up than he was, he felt as though I was putting them in his face (understandable looking back on it). He told me to stop being disrespectful to him and I told them to stop being a prick to me and grabbing me, etc (I later apologized to him and the other officer but we'll get to that in a minute). He relayed that to Kevin Keys and Kevin said something to me about it, and I apologized to Kevin and admitted I lost my cool for a second.
After the game, the original officer came up to me and we started talking. Nothing rude, just a conversation. He was explaining why he told me I couldn't say shutup. Apparently Ron Godwin and Dwayne Carson said we shouldn't say it. He was an older man, and I told him I believed it was a generation thing because shutup is not offensive to us and may be to his generation. We talked about that for a few second. After that, I told him that Jeff and Mickey told me I could say it, and until they say otherwise, I will. I also said that last year they asked us not to say the word "suck" and we have obeyed that request for the most part (it slips at times). During this conversation, a woman from Barton came up and questioned if I was a Christian or not because I was saying shutup during the game. She questioned what the faith meant on my shirt.
During this whole conversation, Kevin Keys was within ear distance and was listening. He later chimed in and said something along the lines of if we did what every school thought we should do as Christians, we'd be sitting on our hands the entire time. Presby fans complained and said we were rude because our students stood the whole time and waved pom poms. Coastal fans complained because we stood and used thunder sticks and were loud. Some of our fans thought that "Beat Coastal" was degrading to Coastal and we shouldn't do things that could be degrading to the other team.
As the conversation went on, I apologized to the older LUPD officer for what I said (the prick statement), I explained that I lost my cool and apologized for that, and was sincere about the whole thing. I shook his hand, we both said that we wouldn't hold a grudge, etc. As I saw the younger one leaving, I got his attention, apologized to him personally, shook his hand, and we all ended by telling each other to have a good night.
The whole thing boiled down to the fact that the Athletic Department and I guess it's Spiritual Life/Student Affairs will have to have a talk about what can and cannot be said at game. What we think doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I want to know where we draw the line. What is too much? Where is the line? "You suck" is obviously over it. Is yelling at a coach to shutup over the line or is it ok? What is acceptable and what isn't?
Once again, I ask to please keep this civil and a discussion, not a fight. I want to be serious about this one.
Sorry, I have a hard time being serious about this one. If they want to go so far as say you can't say something like "shut up" they might as well start making students wear ties to games and carry a Bible under your arm for admission to the games, pretty silly really. A ball game is one thing, church/school is quite another.
--Fumble (1961-2009), RIP
- By LU Armchair coach
- By jbock13