Attention Santa Clara students: limit the negative cheers

By Brooke Boniface

"Where do you go to school?" "I'm a junior at Santa Clara University." "Where is that..Oh wait, I know, you guys are the ones who threw trash onto the court during that basketball game." "Yes, that would be us..."

As unfortunate as the above conversation sounds, I have gotten that reaction more than once when telling someone where I go to school.

Santa Clara's reputation for poor sportsmanship has been relatively widespread for the past two years, after the video clip of two pieces of trash landing on the court during the Santa Clara-Gonzaga basketball game was aired on ESPN.

This reputation was further cemented during the men's soccer game this past weekend.

While at the game I barely heard a single cheer in favor of our team. Almost all of the crowd's energy was focused on negative cat calls directed at the opposing school.

Multiple students were on their phones looking up the roster of the other team so that they could more personally insult each of the players.

I found it sad that a sporting event at my beloved university was turned into such a negative environment.

Now, I don't want to sound like the biggest fun-sucker in the world. I can appreciate heckling the opposing team as much as the next person.

I frequently join along with chants of "air ball" or "scoreboard" during Santa Clara basketball games.

However, there is definitely a line, one which is frequently crossed by Santa Clara fans, between good-natured heckling and just plain poor sportsmanship.

Some booing and negative cheers directed towards the other team is obviously acceptable, but when you are voicing more of those than cheers for your own team, it becomes excessive.

And when your insults toward players become personal, and in no way related to whatever game is being played, that, at least in my mind, crosses the line.

Just because they are athletes and they have gotten used to dealing with attacks on their hair, body type, weird name, etc., it does not mean that we as fans should stoop to that level.

Santa Clara is not alone in this. Sports fans on every level from little league to the NFL frequently get caught up in negative cheering and turn a delightful and fun event into an ugly confrontation between each team's fans.

This past summer I attended my young teenage cousin's beach volleyball match and was shocked and appalled to see a few grown women taunting and arguing with one of the 16-year-olds who was playing.

While playing as a setter for Pepperdine, my cousin John Mayer had to deal with some group of fans at every school singing "Your body is a Wonderland" while it was his turn to serve. This was funny at first, but after three years it got a little wearing and repetitive.

These few examples are obviously not all-encompassing, but poor sportsmanship is out there and it is prevalent. But here at Santa Clara we can and should rise above this trend and go in a different direction.

Some of the negative cheers are extremely clever and inventive; hopefully those who made them up can come up with positive cheers and chants that are just as clever.

Next time there is a sporting event, let's all focus our talents and energy as a crowd more constructively towards cheers for our own teams, rather than belittling whatever school happens to be playing us that week.

Brooke Boniface is a senior political science and history double major and editor of the opinion section.