Newspaper Sports Feature Story

Rachel Bowers, The Odyssey
Clarke Central HS (Athens, Ga.)

When getting spirited crosses the line

The vibration from the crowd noise could be felt outside the gym doors. A sea of red and gold flooded over the bleachers. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on a leather basketball being passed around the court with a Gladiator symbol gleaming at the center of the shimmering floor. The Lady Gladiators were on their way to another victory, but the action in the student section became the center of attention.

On Jan. 19, 2007, Clarke Central High School tipped off a sub-region match against Winder-Barrow High School. According to CCHS Athletic Director Jon Ward, “realistic accusations” were made about CCHS student fans saying inappropriate comments to a female Winder-Barrow player. She struggled to set the basketball free when it got stuck between the backboard and the rim. According to eyewitness reports, the CHS section “booed” and called her names, causing the player to retaliate. Harsh words were exchanged, and CCHS students were eventually confronted by the player’s brother.

“One of the Winder-Barrow High School players I was yelling at, her brother came all the way to our side and started yelling at us telling us he’s going to punch us right in the mouth. It was made a big deal because my voice is loud and distinctive. And that’s why Dr. Easom was so upset. It was nothing out of the ordinary,” said senior Jerel Bawayan.

Principal Dr. Maxine Easom became puzzled with the situation with a Winder-Barrow fan made his way into the CCHS student section. “Our kids were kind of looking up at this guy, and I suddenly realize something didn’t look right,” said Easom. “I go charging off to get the guy to speak to (a Winder-Barrow) administrator to say, ‘This is inappropriate,’ only to be stopped by some of our own folks to say, ‘Dr. Easom, you’ve just been had because our kids were saying very disrespectful things to one of their players.”

After discovering where the root of the problem began, Easom redirected her aggravation from the Winder-Barrow fan to the CCHS student section and its actions. “I was mad that we would be that disrespectful… and I was mad that I had been lied to. I’m going off to support our kids, and they’ve lied to me,” said Easom.

With so many things taking place in the stands, players could not help but notice what was occurring. Junior basketball player Veronica Bolds was smiling on the court at the incidents, but was not completely sidetracked by the activity in the bleachers. “It started when the Winder-Barrow player got the ball stuck between the rim and the backboard and our fans started ‘booing’ her. It didn’t distract me. I thought it was funny,” said Bolds.

While Bolds thought the incident was “funny,” Easom finds fan conduct such as that unnecessary and disrespectful. “It is completely disrespectful for fans to accost players and yell negative things,” said Easom. “Fans are there to energize their team not to denigrate somebody else. If they’re yelling things that are disrespectful, there’s just no reason for that.”

Junior basketball player Brandy Mims thinks while having the fans on your side is a good thing, she also believes it is somewhat of a struggle to stay focused. “If you can have the fans on your side, it brings up your intensity level and makes you play better. You have to try and stay focused, but this one dude comes to every game and yells (distinctively). You have to try to block it out,” said Mims.

Even though Easom looks down upon fans acting inappropriately, and will not allow CCHS students to do so, she still wants to see the student section energized and excited to watch the game they are attending. “The thing we want from fans is a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of cheering for your team, anything that motivates. I think crowds don’t realize how much they really push the team,” said Easom.

Bawayan, who has been attending all home athletic events and cheering like a fanatic since his freshman year, felt as though the game was a regular experience. “I think I’ve always yelled at other team’s players. It’s just me,” said Bawayan. “I would like to think it affects the other team’s players. Having loud fans is part of home court advantage. I don’t think it does anything to our players just because we don’t say anything to them. We cheer them on.”

Ward agrees with Bawayan about home court advantage and said, “There’s a point of being a good spectator and even trying to get under your opponent’s skin a little to try to give your team that home field or home court advantage,” but he also pointed out a line between acting appropriately and being offensive toward opposing teams’ players and fans. “You cross a line when it becomes inappropriate and unsportsmanlike. We’ve been guilty of that here at Clarke Central and opposing fans have been guilty of that as well,” said Ward.

Not only was Ward taken aback by the discourteous cheering, he was also upset that fans turned the focus away from the athletes who were competing on the court. “It’s somewhat disturbing anytime spectators take away from the venue of competition because the crowd is there to watch the contest,” said Ward. “When fans, in this case students, misrepresent themselves and behave in a way that’s inappropriate, it takes away from those (athletes) that have dedicated themselves… to have opportunities to compete and then have these other things kind of taking precedent over what they’re trying to do on the court.”

Some parents were bothered by CCHS students’ actions, but were pleased with how the situation was handled by the CCHS administration. “I think Dr. Easom handled the situation well. Everything got calmed down. I just hate that these kids respond to each other like that. It’s supposed to be fun, competitive, but fun. It got a little bit out of control and I like how Dr. Easom handled it,” said Angela Walter, mother of senior football player Larrinique Walter, who attended the game against Winder-Barrow.

A little over a week after the home game against Winder-Barrow, the CCHS basketball teams and numerous fans traveled over county lines on Jan. 27, 2007 to Oconee County High School. The Lady Gladiators and Gladiators were to face the Warriors in what some believe has become an extremely heated rivalry since the two teams began playing in 1998. “It can get really heated sometimes, and some people can make bad decisions. You always need rivalries in high school though. People come to the games because of rivalries,” said senior football player Nick Wegmann, who attended the basketball game against OCHS.

Bawayan was amidst the and gold T-shirts and letterman jackets in the stands, and heard Easom when she came down in the stands to tell the student section to keep the cheers respectful while feeling like she directed it to him personally. “She pointed at me said, ‘I’m pretty much talking to you,’” said Bawayan.

While the CCHS student section had been spoken to by Easom to prevent anything from occurring, that did not stop the OCHS student section from taking over where CCHS left off during the game against Winder-Barrow just eight days earlier.  According to Easom, OCHS student fans were “not respectful of (CCHS) players,” and would yell at them as they dribbled along the OCHS sideline. “I don’t know what they said to our (players). I know they weren’t yelling, ‘Hey, you’re a really good basketball player!” said Easom.

Senior basketball player Josh Hurst stood on the free throw line with sounds from OCHS megaphones blaring in his ears while he was trying to sink the shots. “I don’t really listen. I just laugh if off and show them that they’re wrong. It’s a part of the game at the collegiate level and in the NBA, so you have to be used to it,” said Hurst.

Many people’s ears perked up when the OCHS student section began chanting, “SAT Scores!” towards the entire CCHS fan section repeatedly. Wegmann thought what the OCHS student section was chanting was to turn the focus of the basketball game to academics. “Our SAT scores are better, and they’ve always thought that they have been better than us. They had to take their mind off losing, so they have to yell about something other than sports,” said Wegmann.

According to Easom, she eventually was introduced to an assistant principal by a parent and the OCHS student section became calm after the individual went and stood in front of them to ensure they remained respectful.

Even though Ward was not at the OCHS match up, he was in agreement that the home team should take the first step, not the visiting principal. “When you go to someone else’s venue to play, you’re there to support, but the lead is to be taken by the home school. When someone comes (to CCHS,) it’s our responsibility not only to make sure our fans behave, but also the fans of the opposing team. If you’re the home school that’s part of your responsibility,” said Ward.

But when everything is said and done, what is influencing these fans to behave in this manner? Has this become a national phenomenon? “No matter what, when fans see violence in a sports arena, it is brought about in other arenas as well. When the Clemson (University) and USC thing happened, I think it was fueled by the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons brawl,” said sports fan Stephen Bismarck of the Arts, Media and Communication Academy.

On Nov. 19, 2004, a fight broke out between the Indian Pacers and the Detroit Pistons and after the benches cleared out, a fan threw a cup onto the court at The Palace sparking a second round of what is said to be one of the nastiest fights in NBA history. The cup filled with beer caused Indiana Pacers Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson to hurl themselves into the stands and begin throwing punches. Those punches led Artest to a season-ending suspension and Jackson to a 30 game suspension as well as thousands of dollars in fines for the pair.

After all the “out of line” and “disrespectful” comments that were made by both sides’ fans, Easom is determined to hand out punishment to CCHS students who continue to behave in that manner. “I have had some frustration at our own fans this year. There’s no need to yell ugly things to someone else’s player. (If students act inappropriately,) they’re going to be out. I have said to two or three people that they’ve very close,” said Easom.

Wegmann understands Easom’s frustrations, and realizes choosing the words to yell is of the utmost importance. “I can understand what Easom is saying because sometimes you don’t know what a player’s life is like, and you can yell something that can offend them. You have to yell the right things. We get heated and yell the wrong things sometimes, but it’s in the heat of battle,” sad Wegmann.

Even though Easom has found herself dealing with a problem that some would see as making fans cheer less, she wants to make sure CCHS students show respect towards other teams and fans at athletic events. She said, “What I want is when people come to Clarke Central is that they see a fired up student body who wants their team to win, but is always respectful of other people. Those are just the most important things we need to teach.”