University of Virginia Library

Sportsmanship

Carolina Coliseum, as the University of
South Carolina's basketball arena is known, is
an awesome place. The garnet and black seats
in the rectangular field house climb almost
vertically skyward so that the spectators
seem to hang over the court and the players.
When the Coliseum is filled to capacity, as it
was last Saturday night, the noise from the
14,000 Gamecock supporters is both
deafening and intimidating.

After the inexcusable actions of some
South Carolina squad members at last
month's game here in Charlottesville, and
after hearing descriptions of the hostile
hospitality that visiting teams receive in
Columbia, we were ready for the worst when
the two teams tangled for the second time in
the season. Of course, we did get the worst on
the court as South Carolina's extremely
talented team did everything except put the
Wahoos through the nets, but we are pleased
to report that there were no unseemly
extracurriculars that have plagued the
University of South Carolina in particular and
the Atlantic Coast Conference in general.

Perhaps Messrs. Roche, Ribuck, Riker, and
company have realized that basketball courts
are generally used for basketball, not street
fighting; a lesson that should be conveyed to
all basketball teams including our own.
Fighting only tends to discredit both the
institution and the state that the team
represents and is obviously not in the spirit
off a constructive athletic program.

What struck us more deeply than the
improvement of conduct of the Carolina
players, was the overall courtesy shown by a
crowd that has gained a reputation almost
equally that of their basketball team for
hot-tempered hostility. Sure there was a lot of
noise and some booing, but there was nothing
as low as some of the antics pulled by we
students in University Hall. Prior to the start
of the game the President of South Carolina's
student body admonished the fans to behave
themselves for the sake of the University and
out of common decency. It worked.

The University of South Carolina has a
much greater task in maintaining order at
their games than we do since the majority of
their spectators come from outside the
University community and are more like a
wrestling crowd than a basketball audience.
However, they treated us fairly and even gave
a few rounds of applause that brightened an
otherwise dismal evening.

Certainly we could stand to learn from
South Carolina. There is absolutely no excuse
for the personal harassment of visiting
players. This includes primarily fighting
taunts and the throwing of objects at anyone
on the basketball floor. Fans doing so should
be immediately removed from the Hall and
should face the judgement of the Judiciary
Committee. Let's just try to conduct
ourselves as student spectators with the good
taste and conduct of our basketball team.
Anyone who thinks that cheers for the home
squad is not enough to rattle the nerves of the
opposing team should travel to Carolina
Coliseum and feel how it is to be all alone.