Being a Cougar

I love the excitement in the Marriott Center during BYU basketball games.  They are usually highly entertaining games with the uptempo style at which BYU plays at.  There are always thousands of fans, including a very large student section.  I am always amazed at all the hands waving when the fight song is played for the umpteenth time.  As I look over the section, I am in awe at all of these proud Cougar fans.

But then the games starts.  Then a referee makes a bad call.  My awe turns from pride to shame.  I know, I know, it is difficult sometimes when people are in such a charged state to accept some calls, but I think that sometimes it is too much.  I have to admit that I was not pleased myself with all of the officiating that went on at the most recent home game, and some 'boos' escaped my lips as well.  And for that I feel terrible for doing something that I loathe when others do.

It's hard to accept calls by the refs sometimes.  However, I have noticed through the years that no matter how loud fans may 'boo,' the referees change their call about zero percent of the time.  You would think fans would have realized that by now.   Instead, it got even worse against St. Mary's.  Even after being warned, some student just had to show his dislike of a call by throwing an object onto the court.  Whoever that was, good job!  You just made it worse for team, and the fans.  I think a little more self-control would have served us better, don't you?

I feel guilty by the booing however, because although I am an avid sports fan, I am also a committed member to BYU and the LDS church and always keep in mind the appearance that I make to others.  While at games I always think of what an outsider would think.  A fan for the away team may marvel at how fanatic we are as sports fans.  What if there were such obvious bad calls and we did not boo though?  What would they have thought then?  Maybe that we were better people in general than better sports fans?  I tend to think that people are always watching us at BYU, to see how strange we are maybe.  Why not show them what we really stand for by being understanding and good sports when bad calls are made?

I am sure that if I stated these sentiments during a game though, the student section may just view me as a fish out of the water.

This blog also talks a lot about sports, and the Giants!