THE INSIDE STORY Hockey Cheers? Too Mean!

Author: David Lindholm

As students, we should all have a weight hanging on our conscience. Why? Because our section of students, which sadly, included myself, was horrendously mean throughout the entire men's hockey two-game series against Wentworth this past weekend. No, not mean to each other, but rather mean to the players on the opposing team. What did Wentworth do to incur our disapproval? The answer, and you know it as well as I, is nothing.

But the taunting is not even limited to the players! No, the under-appreciated, underpaid referees are also subject to these vicious verbal attacks. The men are simply doing their jobs, and yet students often inform the men in stripes of their feelings about every decicion the kind-hearted officials make! Even when the referees call a correct penalty, if it is called against a Middlebury player then the students start yelling a variation on "Bull-Poo!" This type of language and inapropriate behavior is hurtful to the innocent zebras.

The referees may even get off light when compared to the players. Case in point: Raj Bhangoo, the Wentworth goaltender for Friday night's NCAA Quarterfinal match. All game the fans were telling him their estimation of his abilities; chanting, in unison, that he "su**." After a number of goals were scored on the poor netminder, the fans then used a guilt trip to further affront Mr. Bhangoo. "It's all your fault!" the fans yelled repeatedly, and Raj, at the far end of the ice, hung his head low.

If things weren't bad enough already for Raj, the Middlebury (hockey) offense continued to pile pressure upon the sophomore. The fans did too, and eventually the repeated chants eventually went to his head. Raj lost his cool with about six minutes remaining in the game, and wildly swung his stick hit the legs and head of a Panther player.

While it would be easy enough to blame this fit of rage against Raj, it is much more appropriate to attribute his actions to the repeated insults of the crowd. We, as students, must look deep into our hearts and find out what compells us to drive this player to such desperate measures. Raj received a penalty for his mistake, but I think that a penalty should also be accesed on the students' collective conscience.

Speaking of penalties, the crowd has a tendency, when an opposing player receives a one, to yell "Aaaaah" as he approches the penalty box and "See ya!" as soon as he steps in. This is offensive, not just in the pronunciation of the word "you." The player, who will have two minutes to think about his error, also has to hear the crowd bid him a sarcastic adieu. An alternative to this chant should be "Aaaaaaah— Don't worry about it!"

So let's start thinking about this. Instead of "warm up the bus," we could try "please do not take the fact that our team beat yours as an insult; instead, come back soon and we'll have tea." And please, let's not tell the goaltender he "su**". Try this: "Raj-ie, Raj-ie, Raj-ie: Have a nice day!"