11/05/24
February 14, 2006
Gonzaga: Home o' Sexual Taunts: Students cheering on Gonzaga's basketball team have been asked to stop yelling "Brokeback Mountain!" at opponents. "Apparently, a picture of one of the other team's players kissing another guy had been apprehended from the Internet, made into fliers, and handed out to members of the Kennel Club," a student wrote in a letter to the Jesuit school's paper.
posted by rcade to basketball at 11:24 AM - 22 comments
rcade: great title for the fpp
posted by grum@work at 11:57 AM on February 14, 2006
Not surprising that undergrads would initially find this chant amusing, but now that they've been called on it, I'm sure it will stop. Best title ever?
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 11:59 AM on February 14, 2006
Cheers to Callie for having the guts to stand up and say that it was wrong. Its one thing to try and throw the other team off their game, but a 21 year old kid shouldn't be subjected to taunts like that. Seems like most of student body feels the same way. Kudos too, on the title!
posted by Bury Bonds at 12:00 PM on February 14, 2006
It never should have come to this. Haven't seen the movie and probably won't, but being a member of society we must accept people and all their eccentricities. That said, in high school we used to stand up and turn our backs on opposing teams cheerleaders and sing E-I-E-I-O....we were stupid little kids. Kids being the operative word. Would this have been as big a deal if they weren't nationally televised?
posted by GoBirds at 12:44 PM on February 14, 2006
I am not sure how a title of a Movie could really be that offensive. Brokeback Mountain is supposed to be a positive movie about homosexuality. You're being pretty generous there, daddisamm. I think the intent here is pretty transparent. If they chanted, "Kickert is gay!" there's no qualitative statement in the words but the intent would clearly be interpreted as derisive and offensive. If they didn't mean it as an insult, why would they even be chanting it at an opposing player in the first place? Would this have been as big a deal if they weren't nationally televised? It might not have made Spo-Fi, but I bet it would have stirred the bees nest on campus just as much. This has little to do with the audience and a lot to do with a tolerance and sensitivity issue at Gonzaga. And, any way you look at it, the title is freakin' brilliant, rcade.
posted by BullpenPro at 01:02 PM on February 14, 2006
but a 21 year old kid shouldn't be subjected to taunts like that. Isn't this what you call an oxy moron?
posted by mrrocnron at 01:05 PM on February 14, 2006
I'm not sure that's not actually a pretty benign way of taunting the lad. It could've been a lot worse, so I'm going to go with 'topical, with some moderate inventiveness'. So a whole buncha rivals calls you gay - just because you kissed one guy. Not a huge deal there, if I'm the 21-year old in question. If you don't show your offence, you come across as the bigger person. Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: Pretend your slightly pissed and confused and look at the guy sitting next to you in the bar and say: "Geez, man, you suck ONE dick and allofasudden you're a faggot. What's up with that?"
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:14 PM on February 14, 2006
even if it doesn't personally offend this guy (as i doubt it would me), i think when taunting gets personal is when the fun goes out of it. good on the faculty and student body for speaking up to prevent their school's good rep from being soiled by a group of idiots. as an alum of loyola marymount in the less than auspicious early 2000s, i remember some great taunts from the kennel on the road, such as one time when they called our home court a "high-school-gyyyym." a legit way to silence the home crowd that i thought was pretty funny. of course, when you're from spokane, you don't have much to cheer about in life other than zags basketball, so i understand their zealotry.
posted by ninjavshippo at 01:25 PM on February 14, 2006
I agree with ninja -- lots of available material for the cheering section without taking it to the personal level. As a college hockey fan, I recall a lot of great cheers from the opposing side (and a lot of geeky ones as well -- see: Cornell). Wisconsin had this cheer when their team scored a goal where they would all wave their arms over their heads in a circle slowly, hissing an "S," and then point to the opposing goalie and finish the "sieve" cheer. They would do this over and over, faster and faster. It was pretty intimidating. God, I hate Wisconsin.
posted by BullpenPro at 02:07 PM on February 14, 2006
The story is that the player lost a bet and the bet was that he had to wear a hat and kiss a guy. The player is not gay and it was just a friendly bet that was blown out of proportion.
posted by pepitothechihuahua at 02:10 PM on February 14, 2006
Best. Title. Evar. But yeah, although I've heard a lot worse, it's best for the school to put a stop to it. Weird question -- is there the same furor if the player actually IS gay? Oh, and my rejected slogan for that movie: They took the cowboy ways -- and rectum.
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:13 PM on February 14, 2006
The effect on the player isn't the only thing to consider here. The group cheers calling the guy a homosexual tell gay students they're not welcome at Gonzaga, which is why I think it's good the fan group's catching hell over this. (However, the first time I heard it, I think I would've laughed. I can't get the cheer out of my head -- BROKE-BACK MOUN-TAIN! Clap-clap clap-clap-clap!)
posted by rcade at 02:14 PM on February 14, 2006
rcade, I cain't quit you. Freaking brilliant. Tyson Tomko would be proud.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 02:44 PM on February 14, 2006
tHE JOKE IS... "You can bang a thousand women, but you suck ONE cock and you're a cock sucker for life." Classic. I watched the game, I was wondering what they were yelling.
posted by wassup at 06:01 PM on February 14, 2006
Weird question -- is there the same furor if the player actually IS gay? Well, I'm pretty sure if you made allusions to a black player's colour there'd be fewer people telling him to just live with it.
posted by rodgerd at 07:45 PM on February 14, 2006
couldn't the other team fans shout back: nice gonzagas! or show me your gonzagas! or shake those gonzagas!? or sumpin'.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:36 AM on February 15, 2006
actually I think the joke is... I've built a thousand bridges, do they call me Tom the bridgebuilder? No, but you suck one cock...
posted by njsk8r20 at 07:17 AM on February 15, 2006
What is Gonzaga's mascot?
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:18 PM on February 15, 2006
Bulldogs, I believe.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 05:25 PM on February 15, 2006
Bulldogs, I believe Bulldogs is a <cartmen voice>totally gay</cartmen voice> nickname so I have to wonder about that taunt.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:05 PM on February 15, 2006
Persoanlly. I am not sure what to think of this. No doubt the students were trying to find a way to disrupt the other team. I am not sure how a title of a Movie could really be that offensive. Brokeback Mountain is supposed to be a positive movie about homosexuality. I have heard cheers that are much worse. I am sure are numerous opinions like those of the studnet's letter. Cheers like this should happen a Jesuit backed school.