First Off let me just say that it was in poor taste for the Newton North kids to mock Catholic Memorial’s lack of culinary studies by chanting “sauce adds zest” and the C.M. boys crossed the line with “The Juice Killed Jesus” comeback.
Outrageous. A chant like that can do nothing but spark racial flames and bring back old wounds. Did O.J. kill Jesus? I don’t know. And I highly doubt those little bastards know either. Before one makes an accusation like that they better be damn sure.
Anyhow, as bad as this is it is getting worse.
How so? I’ll tell you how so.
Check out Yvonne Abraham’s column on a Concord-Carlisle v Holliston basketball game where fan chanting was brought to a new level. A level so low I want no part of it. Check this out:
The Concord fans started chanting “You guys are chill!” at Holliston, bestowing the ultimate in adolescent affirmation. Holliston returned, repeating, “We respect you!”
Then, all together: “Sportsmanship! Sportsmanship!”
As the valiant Holliston players’ clocks continued to be cleansed, the gym erupted into song, both sets of fans united in “Sweet Caroline” and then, “Don’t Stop Believing’.”
Kill me now Lord, Kill me now!
Mark L. Bail says
But the worst are the parents, not the kids. That’s my generation. Kids can still be bad. Some of my suburban students scuffled with the opposing teams fans and one of my students spit in the face of a girl fan from the opposing side. None of this is acceptable, but it starts with the parents. I’m fastidious about sportsmanship and good behavior, but I can’t see myself shouting compliments at a game.
High school sports are like academics: the fighting is fierce because the stakes are so low.
sabutai says
Tough to believe that those kids came up with “you killed Jesus” on their own. Feels more like some washed-up guy whose life peaked as a senior saying “in my day, we would chant this at Newton…”
eb3-fka-ernie-boch-iii says
High school sports are like academics: the fighting is fierce because the stakes are so low.
paulsimmons says
Linked to here.
…and until I checked, I used to ascribe the aphorism to Henry Kissinger.
The Google Is Your Friend.
merrimackguy says
with Lawrence as the visiting team
Christopher says
…but I don’t know about consequences.
merrimackguy says
that made that particularly jerky.
Christopher says
We also used –
“God made the rivers;
God made the lakes;
God made Nashua;
Even God makes mistakes!”
kirth says
Given the long history of redlining in Andover, their chant was almost certainly bigotry. I used to live in that area, and realtors went to great lengths to avoid renting or showing Andover properties to anyone from Lawrence, or anyone with a Hispanic name. This was even true in the much-less-affluent North Andover. In the days when newspaper ads were the primary method of offering properties, places in those towns were always listed in the Globe, but not in the Eagle-Tribune. I would be interested to learn whether internet listings have had any impact on the situation.
Christopher says
In this case private school elitism looking down on public school riff-raff (not saying I agree).
jconway says
Which, as the butt of the Big 10, makes some sense. We irradiated our football stadium and tore it down to build a bigger library, which shows how Chicago approached the game. Even if our team invented the modern game in the 20s with the forward pass and T formation.
lodger says
in the 70’s put sportsmanship and gentlemanly behavior over winning – and therefore as students we picked up on the importance. IMO it gets back to demonstrated priorities and at the school which I attended it was demonstrated at every opportunity, not just in the athletic arena. There was correct behavior and there was incorrect behavior, the lines were never blurred, no excuses were accepted.
Mark L. Bail says
at my high school used to get several of us to work at contentious hockey games. I remember some of our kids chanting “Dradle! Dradle!” at the other team. (Longmeadow has a strong Jewish population and community). We stopped them immediately. That was then.
Last year, some fathers sat in the band’s seats at the football game. The band director asked them to move. Let’s just say that the convicted mobster/hitman was the politest of them. They eventually moved and proceeded to criticize the coach. It almost goes without saying that their kids are much better behaved in school and on the field.