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Missing the Point of the Game

Letter to the Editor

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012

Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012 22:01

To the Editor,

Sunday, I groggily yet eagerly boarded the bus to New York City at 5:40 a.m., excited for my first Georgetown basketball road trip to watch the Hoyas play St. John's. Wearing my "We Are Georgetown" T-shirt, I marched — beaming with pride — with the herd of faithful Hoyas into one of this country's famous arenas: Madison Square Garden. I would never have expected that I would walk out two and a half hours later significantly less proud than I walked in.

As a prospective Georgetown student, I was largely sold on this university by its ideals, including those of integrity, respect and love for others. It was so sad to me that these ideals did not follow us to Madison Square Garden as comments about St. John's "ugly cheerleaders" and lower academic reputation were crudely yelled by Georgetown fans throughout the course of Sunday's game. Though put off by this, I was most appalled by the criticism and booing from our fans of a man in the Army wearing a St. John's t-shirt during a fan shooting contest. A week after sadly, yet proudly, sending a good friend off to Afghanistan, I was jarred by my own university's fans rudely and offensively jeering a man who protected the very freedom that allowed us the experience of watching a great basketball game, traveling to a world-class city and learning at one of the best, most recognized universities in the world.

The next time I go to support the Hoyas whom I so adore, I will very consciously ensure that I do not leave my Georgetown values at the door. May we not so quickly forget what we stand for as Georgetown students, and may we not forget the people who have made the sacrifices to get us where we are today. 

Katie Day (NHS '15)

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10 comments

@ most recent anonymous
Tue Feb 7 2012 15:36
If you are deriding a cheerleader for her looks - which, *surprisingly* is NOT what a cheerleader 's job performance is based on - then yes, you're deriving a woman's worth from her looks.
Anonymous
Sat Jan 21 2012 20:59
""St. John's cheerleaders are ugly??? Are you kidding me? Have you seen ours????"
I'm glad that's all a woman's worth is based on...."

Who said anything about a woman's worth??? It's cheerleading. They wear tiny little outfits and perform at games. It is nicer for everyone involved if they are visually pleasing--both in terms of their appearance and with regard to their athletic/performance abilities. Nothing about their overall 'worth.' Don't be silly.....

Katie Day
Sat Jan 21 2012 17:25
As the author of the above article, I hope the following will be published in Tuesday's Hoya:
Last week, I published a piece about the men's basketball game in New York on January 15th, noting the negative behavior of Georgetown fans towards a man whom I believed to have been in the army during a shooting contest. After contacting St. John's, I admit that I was mistaken and apologize that I did not thoroughly check the facts of the situation beforehand. The shooting contest was sponsored by the Army and its participant was not in any way affiliated with the service. Though I do stand by my argument that we should strive as Georgetown students to uphold our school values in the stands, I do realize that I poorly and inaccurately portrayed our fan section for that game and apologize.
Anonymous
Sat Jan 21 2012 01:55
"St. John's cheerleaders are ugly??? Are you kidding me? Have you seen ours????"

I'm glad that's all a woman's worth is based on....

Anonymous
Fri Jan 20 2012 15:04
This is one of the most misleading (in addition to being false) comments I have ever seen. I was at the game at MSG. The author should be ashamed and the paper should issue a clarification.
Anonymous
Fri Jan 20 2012 14:56
I was at the game. The participant was not military and he was booed for missing all of his shots badly. When a member of the military was introduced at another part of the game, she received a long and heartfelt standing ovation from all members of the crowd - SJU and Georgetown fans alike.
Anonymous
Fri Jan 20 2012 14:05
Good to see the tradition of sanctimonious, holier-than-thou letters to the editor (by means of seriously overwrought writing) has not disappeared since I left GU.

"I will very consciously ensure." I suppose ensuring, or consciously ensuring really would be insufficient. I hope the team very consciously ensures they cut down on turnovers tomorrow.

Anonymous
Fri Jan 20 2012 14:02
St. John's cheerleaders are ugly??? Are you kidding me? Have you seen ours????
Ditto
Fri Jan 20 2012 13:49
I was at the game. The contest was sponsored by the Army but the participant was never identified as being in the Army. He lookd like a student. We jokingly boo Georgetown fans who badly miss contest shots at Verizon too. Much ado about nothing.

The derogatory comments about St. John's are unfortunate but not surprising and hopefully limited to a few knuckleheads. It's a pretty typical equation: College kids + booze + sporting events = less than stellar behavior. Having been to more than my fair share of arenas around the country, though, I've found Georgetown fans to be by-and-large well-behaved and far less crass than their counterparts.

Anonymous
Fri Jan 20 2012 13:42
I was appalled when I first read this, because I never knew a Hoya to boo someone in the armed forces. However, after pointing it out to people who were at the game, they noted that the person in the shooting contest was NOT in the Army (rather, the contest was sponsored by the Army). Additionally, the only reason they were "booing" was because he missed a bunch of free throws or something along those lines, which happens at every arena and is just good fun.

As a student, I've been on many Hoya road trips and usually find our fans to be very well-behaved (a few exceptions, but they are just that, exceptions)







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