A look back: Sportsmanship should extend to the fans in the stands

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The discussion this morning about whether or not Duke fans chanted something offensive at N.C. State basketball player Tyler Lewis made me think of an article I wrote three years ago in the Lake Norman News.

I don't know what the Duke fans chanted, but I heard bad chants as a student at UNC Chapel Hill and I've heard them at high school games. And I've watched administrator's do nothing about it. That's what spurred this column:

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From the Feb. 17, 2010, Lake Norman News

By Corey Inscoe

The schools around Lake Norman in the I-Meck conference have some of the best fans I have ever seen at high school basketball games.

Students arrive early, and the gym is packed by the time the boys' game tips off and sometimes even before the girls' game.

The student section for both the home and visiting schools are always on their feet and loud, giving the game an intense and exciting atmosphere.

But sometimes the school spirit can go too far.

After a foul call that went against the visiting team at a recent I-Meck game, the visiting student section started a chant that was clearly heard throughout the gym: "R-E-T, A-R-D, retard, retard referee!" And it repeated.

I looked at the police officers, security guards and school administration around me and no one moved. The student section is located directly behind the visiting team's bench. The coach acted like he never heard it.

Later in the game, the chant started again. Nothing.

Then after another foul call fans started a chant, featuring an obscenity, with an arm gesture to make it look like they were saying "Push it." No reaction from authorities.

Players are expected to play with a sense of sportsmanship at all times. If not, they are penalized by referees with technical fouls or ejections.

That same sense of sportsmanship must extend to the fans, and it's up to the administration and coaches to enforce it.

In my four undergraduate years at UNC Chapel Hill, I went to almost every home game that the Tar Heels played. The student section beside the court would often get rowdy, especially during rivalry games, but if coach Roy Williams heard a cheer or chant that he didn't like, he would turn to the students and tell them to stop.

Teenage fans are going to get excited and loud when they support their team, but they don't always know where the line is between being supportive and being offensive.

Coaches and school administration must know where that line is and be prepared to discipline any fans who cross it.

After disrespectful fans at West Virginia University yelled obscene chants and stopped play twice by throwing things onto the court, basketball coach Bob Huggins grabbed the PA system microphone.

"That is stupid, " he told the fans, then threatened to throw out any fans that continued to throw things onto the court.

High school coaches need to take the same stand.

According to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association rules and regulations, superintendents, principals and coaches are "individually and collectively responsible for taking every possible step to...promote good sportsmanship at every athletic event."

Obscene and offensive chants have no place in any level of sports, but especially not in high school sports.