Game draws crowd, rowdy fans ejected

Acacia O'Connor Sports Editor

The behavior of several fans at the Feb. 10 Vassar College men’s basketball game was called into question by the officiating referees. The game against Hamilton College drew a crowd of nearly 400 people, and while the majority of these fans behaved in a sportsmanlike manner, cheering the Brewers on enthusiastically, a few were not so well-behaved.

During the course of the game, the referees requested that several fans be removed from the gym because of negative cheering and inappropriate behavior. After the next day’s game on Feb. 11, the referees indicated that they would be filing a formal complaint against the College as a result of the conduct of the ejected students.

“At this point, we have received nothing in writing from the Eastern College Athletic Conference [ECAC],” said Associate Athletic Director Kim Culligan. “Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks until we would receive this.”

The referees, who are provided by the ECAC responded several times after hearing negative comments addressed to the visiting players and themselves.

According to Athletics Operations Manager Angel Mason, the comments directed at the referees included pointing out one official’s bald head and verbally threatening them by asking how they slept at night. Students also directed personal remarks to individual Hamilton players. The officials told Athletic Department administrators to ask the offending students to stop or else they would be removed from the game.

“Perhaps there were things that the officials heard that were over the top, perhaps there was profanity being used, however, I heard none of it,” said Culligan. “Regardless, fans were ejected, including a parent who was heckling the officials.”

Culligan and Mason also noted that they had to take away signs that read “Fire [Coach Mike] Dutton” from two students. A student who had an open container of alcohol in his possession was also asked to leave.

“All of the coaches in attendance, as well as the staff, certainly felt that this is what normally occurs at any basketball game in the country,” said Culligan. “Unfortunately, we had some officials who couldn’t handle any kind of heckling, so they got a bit carried away.”

The following day, when the basketball team hosted Hobart College, two students were ejected almost immediately after entering the gymnasium for baiting the visiting team. In the course of the game, several other students were asked to leave for the same reason.

“It was clear to me, that these officials had been contacted by those who were here on Friday and they were simply looking for any and all situations they felt would justify ejections based purely on what they were told,” said Culligan.

After the game, Culligan asked the officials why they had asked for the students be kicked out. The officials replied that the behavior of the fans was unacceptable and it was clear that Vassar had a problem with its fans. Three Vassar men’s players were also given technical foul calls by the officials during the course of the game; Hamilton received none.

The turnout to the Feb. 10 game was high for several reasons. During the men’s and women’s basketball games that night, the Athletic Department hosted “Take a Kid to the Game Day,” to encourage parents in the Vassar and Poughkeepsie communities to bring their children to the game. The department set up tables with trivia games, raffles, face painting and other activities in the Athletic and Fitness center.

On top of “Take a Kid to the Game Day,” which was successful, the Student-Athlete Mentors [SAMs] were concurrently hosting “Crazy Fan Night.” The SAMs event encouraged Vassar students to come to the game dressed crazily for a chance to win a free T-shirt.

Many students attended in outrageous attire, including a group of men in the class of 2009 who painted their chests to spell out “VASSAR.”

For student-athletes, the immense support that was shown at the Feb. 10 game was an perfect example of the Brewer fan base that is otherwise lacking.

“As a player, the removal of our fans from the contest was absolutely ridiculous,” said Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member and men’s basketball player Will Kieffer ’07. “I believe we have one of the best fan bases in our conference, yet when officials remove our fans it is a detriment to what should be considered a home court advantage.”

Kieffer noted in an e-mailed statement that the heckling and baiting he has received on away trips from other Liberty League teams has been far worse, and from crowds that are much larger. Other conference teams often have large groups of rowdy fans who will chant offensive things about Vassar athletes or call their name repeatedly in an unsportsmanlike manner. A popular chant during men’s basketball games from fans at schools is “Vassar is a girl’s school.”
“Any official or player that cannot take any heat from fans should not be playing or officiating a game,” said Kieffer. “That being said, fans do need to adhere to taunts that may be considered offensive, and also need to stay off the field of play.”

While baiting is a standard part of athletic competition, athletes and administrators say that it is positive cheering that contributes the most.

“You become a little more hyped up to play in front of more fans, and that in turn may give you more energy to perhaps perform at a higher level,” said Kieffer.

The threatened reprimand has yet to be received by the athletic department and therefore its ramifications are unknown.

“In my opinion, we certainly do not have a problem here at Vassar College and we want fans, spectators, faculty and staff and students to come to all of our games and contests and support the student-athletes,” said Culligan

“There is nothing better than playing in front of your own fans and gaining the "home court" advantage,” continued Culligan. “However, there is a way to support a team with respect and dignity and it is my hope that the ‘Brew Crew’ takes the lead on this issue and creates a positive and fun fan support system.”