EDITORIAL: Louie's Crazies: Preserving our sportsmanship

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Posted: 3/18/08

The legacy of the men's basketball team's six-man senior class will not be measured in wins or losses, but rather in the group's ability to rescue a dormant student fan base and turn it into what coach Brian Meehan consistently deemed "the best group in New England."

While the team fell just short of making the Final Four of the Division III Tournament last weekend, the Brandeis fans did their job. A large group of students made the 4 1/2-hour trip to Plattsburgh, N.Y., and though they were much smaller in number, their cheers drowned out their opponent's much larger group of fans.

There's no questioning this development is an excellent one for the University. Not only does it provide students with a Division I-type sports atmosphere, but it also means the school's varsity athletes can receive the applause they deserve thanks to their hard work, selflessness and dedication to their craft.

Still, we are troubled by some instances that have occurred during this transition. Midway through the season, a guardrail separating the student section from the court was formed, which raised eyebrows as to the fans' rowdiness at games.

There have also been incidents during the team's NCAA Tournament run. State police officers were forced to stop the fans from charging the court during an expected first-round victory over Lasell College March 7. During the loss to Amherst College, fans were giggling and screaming during the playing of the national anthem, and later in the game, one fan threw a hat toward a referee during the team's loss to Amherst College. Luckily, a Brandeis player cleared the hat away, but the referee could very well have called a technical foul that would have undermined the team's comeback effort.

These are undoubtedly misdemeanors that pale in comparison to the chants that dominate the Duke University "Cameron Crazies," for example. But while we applaud the students for their increased support of Brandeis Athletics, we caution them to hold true to the values of sportsmanship when cheering on their team.