Wisconsin HS students banned from chanting harmless phrases

[Tugg Speedman]

Yes, the children of Wisconsin now need "safe spaces" when competing in high school sports.

Don't want their feelings hurt.

--------------------------------------------

Wisconsin HS students banned from chanting harmless phrases
Tue Jan. 12, 2016

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/01/11/wisconsin-high-school-basketball-air-ball-scoreboard-chants-banned

The “W” in WIAA technically stands for “Wisconsin” but it should really stand for “Whining.”

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has banned high school students from chanting certain words and phrases at basketball games, and none of them are remotely close to being hurtful or inappropriate.

In an email sent out to students in December, which was obtained by the Post-Crescent, the WIAA banned “chants by student sections directed at opponents and/or opponents’ supporters that are clearly intended to disrespect.”

The following words were reportedly included as examples:

• “Fundamentals”
• “Sieve”
• “We can’t hear you”
• “Air ball”
• “You can’t do that”
• “There’s a net there”
• “Scoreboard”
• “Season’s over” (during tournament play)


Tweet about WIAA earns suspension for athlete
6:46 p.m. CST January 8, 2016

http://www.postcrescent.com/story/sports/2016/01/08/prep-athlete-suspended-tweet/78525606/

The tumultuous world of social media has hit home for Hilbert High School athlete April Gehl.

The three-sport star and one of the top scorers for the Wolves’ girls’ basketball team was informed by Hilbert athletic director Stan Diedrich on Wednesday that she would be suspended for five games during the current winter season due to a tweet that Gehl posted on Twitter early Monday morning concerning the WIAA.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Gehl said. “I was like, ‘Really? For tweeting my opinion?’ I thought it was ridiculous.”

Gehl’s tweet, which contained profanity directed toward the WIAA, was her off-the-cuff response to a WIAA email that took students to task for an increasing number of student-section chants at sporting events that mock the opposing team or school.

The email, from director of communication Todd Clark, concerns “sportsmanship” and what the WIAA feels is an increase in the “amount of chants by student sections directed at opponents and/or opponents’ supporters that are clearly intended to disrespect.”

[injuryBug]

Started a thread just a minute before you on the same thing.  The WIAA is such a joke with this.  Soon it will be no state champs and participation medals for all including those students in the stands that gave a nice golf clap for both teams the entire game

[Eldon]

You can't chant airball?  Was this written on April 1? 

I was hoping the PC madness that pervades the X Studies departments on college campuses would not trickle down to the high school level.  Sadly, it seems this hope is starting to diminish.

[CTWarrior]

WARNING - Cranky old guy rant

You know, school sports are supposed to be a part of your education.  You learn teamwork, benefits of physical fitness, dealing with success and dealing with adversity.  Being taunted or booed in a team sports setting should be so miniscule an issue to a person that it should be handled without a thought.  We have to let kids learn to grow up without being "protected" from every negative thing that might happen to them or more importantly, may be said to them.  That's the best way to raise well-rounded resiliant people.

[GooooMarquette]

They should probably just put the teams and officials in a soundproof box, and let us know how it turned out.

[keefe]

I am guessing that the WIAA would have disapproved of almost everything we did at Marquette games at the Arena...

One of my favorites was when there was a call against Marquette and the student section started the "Bull Sh1t" chant. There were more than 500 diocesan priests at the game and as if on cue they joined in the chant. That is how it is supposed to be.

[WarriorFan]

There's nothing more powerful than 600 people crammed into a high school gym designed for 450 chanting "bull sh1t" or "air ball" when appropriate.  Yes, the same group could also sing the national anthem in unison, but not quite as loud as these chants.

Next we'll just equip all the kids with their own personal plastic bubbles.

Me - I'm teaching mine to eat ice cream cones with dirty hands while riding a bicycle (without a helmet) on the wrong side of the road.  If me and Keefe and thousands of others survived these high risk activities, surely they will too!

[rocket surgeon]

There's nothing more powerful than 600 people crammed into a high school gym designed for 450 chanting "bull sh1t" or "air ball" when appropriate.  Yes, the same group could also sing the national anthem in unison, but not quite as loud as these chants.

Next we'll just equip all the kids with their own personal plastic bubbles.

Me - I'm teaching mine to eat ice cream cones with dirty hands while riding a bicycle (without a helmet) on the wrong side of the road.  If me and Keefe and thousands of others survived these high risk activities, surely they will too!

ice cream cone?  should be more like some greasy meat on a stick, but the ice cream cone thing stokes memories back to living in carpenter tower and having to go across to cobeen for dinner.  and then there was the ice cream socials and banana specials(for those watching their waistlines) for desert....us guys preferred the eye-candy followed by a real cold shower

[Tugg Speedman]

There's nothing more powerful than 600 people crammed into a high school gym designed for 450 chanting "bull sh1t" or "air ball" when appropriate.  Yes, the same group could also sing the national anthem in unison, but not quite as loud as these chants.

Next we'll just equip all the kids with their own personal plastic bubbles.

Me - I'm teaching mine to eat ice cream cones with dirty hands while riding a bicycle (without a helmet) on the wrong side of the road.  If me and Keefe and thousands of others survived these high risk activities, surely they will too!

Run with scissors?

[warriorchick]

Acceptable chants:

Make him relinquish the ball!

We beg to differ!

Score more points than the other team, but in a sportsmanlike manner!

Admirable effort, opposing team!

[Stronghold]

Now it's up to the parents/alumni section to start the cheers I guess.

[rocket surgeon]

get rid of the scoreboard

[naginiF]

I totally agree that banning these chants is over the top, but i totally appreciate that this targeted to the disrespectful attitudes vs protecting the kids.

there is a solid 25% of adults who don't understand the difference between cheering for your team/good natured mocking of the opponent versus belligerence/mean spiritedness.  it's why i can't take my 9yr old to an NFL game (where that % is at least 50% with the alcohol added). 

the UW student section is a great example - booing HE...completely within the lines, chanting 'you can't read' at Stone classless.  nobody wants their kids to be in the second group.

[muwarrior69]

WARNING - Cranky old guy rant

You know, school sports are supposed to be a part of your education.  You learn teamwork, benefits of physical fitness, dealing with success and dealing with adversity.  Being taunted or booed in a team sports setting should be so miniscule an issue to a person that it should be handled without a thought.  We have to let kids learn to grow up without being "protected" from every negative thing that might happen to them or more importantly, may be said to them. That's the best way to raise well-rounded resiliant people.

What is more troubling is that the WIAA defines what is negative. I guess being patriotic is offensive.

[Lighthouse 84]

Back in the day, at my all boys Catholic High School, at which time we had loads of Carmelite priests and Franciscan nuns teaching, we had a local rival school whose mascot was the Tigers and they were on the West side of town.  During basketball games against West, someone would always start a "West blows, West blows" chant or do the "Tiger Call", which went "I'm a Tiger, you're a Tiger, we are Tigers all, and when we get together, we do the Tiger call, PU$$Y"! 

I know it's sophomoric, but it was high school.  But it's sad that the fun suckers in the PC world today would never have let us get away with chanting what we did.  The priests and nuns didn't complain, why should anyone else?

Because we are becoming what West was.

[CTWarrior]

the UW student section is a great example - booing HE...completely within the lines, chanting 'you can't read' at Stone classless.  nobody wants their kids to be in the second group.

Of course chanting "you can't read" at Stone is classless, but it reflects poorly on the chanters, not Stone.  I would imagine Stone wasn't too bothered by it, and it made beating the Badgers a little more fun.

[injuryBug]

At my local HS game the students showed some creativity and chanted "Make it, Make it" while the other team shot FT's.  When they missed they all sighed and yelled go try.  Then the refs blew a call and good old Nuts and bolts was chanted

[Stronghold]

Ashwaubenon student section showed up to a game with duct tape over their mouths.

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/01/13/wisconsin-high-school-basketball-wiaa-students-protest

[GooooMarquette]

I think a student section should go to some game and start chanting "Harm-less phra-ses" and see if they get penalized.

[keefe]

Acceptable chants:

Make him relinquish the ball!

Hate to say it but at Harvard games they chanted, "Harass them! Harass them! Make them relinquish the ball!"

[brandx]

I totally agree that banning these chants is over the top, but i totally appreciate that this targeted to the disrespectful attitudes vs protecting the kids.

there is a solid 25% of adults who don't understand the difference between cheering for your team/good natured mocking of the opponent versus belligerence/mean spiritedness.  it's why i can't take my 9yr old to an NFL game (where that % is at least 50% with the alcohol added). 

the UW student section is a great example - booing HE...completely within the lines, chanting 'you can't read' at Stone classless.  nobody wants their kids to be in the second group.

Excellent post.

I disagree with what the WIAA has done here though, as I think schools should handle these things internally if an activity gets out of hand. I am always against across the board edicts.

It is just lazy management that teaches kids nothing other than "authority sucks".

[StillAWarrior]

I suspect these issues are pretty much the same wherever you live.  Kids are kids.  There is one school where my daughter plays volleyball, and they have a very active group of students -- mostly boys, of course.  They have regular things that they chant, and some of them are on the list.  Some aren't, and are even better.  And going in there as the opponent...I love it.  And my daughter has been on the receiving end of many of their barbs (and she loves it too).  There are usually some faculty members nearby and the kids really don't get out of line.  I've said many, many times that I wish my daughter's school had fans like that at the home matches.

Of course there are some other schools where things really go over the top.  They get personal and they get crude.  That's on the school, and I'd like to see it get under control.

And as I read all of this, I can't help but think of some of the things we chanted from the stands at Marquette games.  I don't think the WIAA would approve.

[WarriorInNYC]

Not sure if any of you saw this, but Jay Bilas had a lot of fun with the WIAA rulings....

http://usatodayhss.com/2016/jay-bilas-royally-trolls-the-wisconsins-decision-to-ban-chants-at-high-school-games

[GooooMarquette]

Not sure if any of you saw this, but Jay Bilas had a lot of fun with the WIAA rulings....

http://usatodayhss.com/2016/jay-bilas-royally-trolls-the-wisconsins-decision-to-ban-chants-at-high-school-games

Love it!

My favorite:  WIAA acceptable FT chant: "We will reduce our level to ambient noise on your attempt, unless you find such silence to be disconcerting."

[Class71]

It is always good to see the  WIAA is preparing HS students for the real world by creating a fantasy world to play basketball. Can not wait when their future boss tells them they are doing a great job but didn't get a raise since everyone else was slightly better in a very competitive environment. Would be more honest if they were just told the truth so more effective decisions can be made in their careers. But hey we do not want to hurt anyone's feelings, just their pocket books.