More than a basketball game

Having gone to yet another basketball game this evening - I don't really know why I keep doing this to myself, knowing full well that I do not enjoy watching basketball - my impression of team fans has not grown any more positive. In fact, I think it has gotten worse. Except this time, the fans whose behavior shocked me the most were from my own school. Curses.

I'll start from the beginning. Upon arriving at Middlebury College, where the game took place, we bought our tickets and sat down on the bleachers near center court. The Middlebury fans were loud and rowdy, which just got our fans riled up as well. I think there were really two games going on: the actual basketball game along with the Battle of the Team Supporters/Other Team Bashers. Insults were being flung across the court liberally, more directed at the other fans than at the teams themselves. For the first half of the game, all the fan competition was limited to that. However, after the break at half time, our school's fans, commonly known as the "Pit," decided to stand up. As previously stated, we and the Pit were sitting front and center, and standing up fully blocked the view of anyone sitting two to five rows behind. Needless to say, this event did not please most of the people sitting in those rows. They started talking, saying things to the effect of, "Hello!! You're blocking our view! SIT DOWN!" They were completely ignored by the Pit, until one or two of them got so annoyed that they went down front to speak to them all as a group. I figured that they would apologize and, if not sit down, at least move somewhere where they weren't directly in the way of anyone else. I was utterly wrong; they grimaced, rolled their eyes, laughed before absolutely refusing, and rudely told her to bug off. She was clearly insulted, and after she returned to her seat, it wasn't long until I heard the following conversation: "I can't believe their behavior! Maybe we should just leave! I'm fully intending to write a letter to their athletic director as soon as I get home! We paid to watch this game...we should be allowed to see it!" But the worst of it was this: "They are supposed to be representing their school! And they call it a CHRISTIAN college?!?!"

I think it's so easy to forget that we do attend a Christian college, but I also think that it's one of the most important things that we need to remember. Whether at a sports game, a concert, or just hanging around in our local Starbucks, we need to recall that we are representing more than just a college; we are representing our school's reputation, our faith, and ultimately, our Savior. It could be argued that the angry people behind us were out of line, asking a teams fans to sit during a game. But I think that the moral implications of the dilemma stretch further than whether it was right or not. Our responses to a request, reasonable or otherwise, speak more 0f our character than the original motivation. Or at least, they do in the case of this particular basketball game.