As the 2008 college football season nears halftime, media outlets debate national title contenders, conference match-ups with BCS implications loom, and fans across the country debate the merits of their favorite teams on message boards and blogs. But in Lawrence, Kansas, a different showdown has grabbed headlines. Namely, whether the drunken KU student section should yell, “RIP HIS (expletive) HEAD OFF!” when the Jayhawks kick off to the opposing team.
(Maybe they should be called FU instead)
As is usual when student body clashes with administration, the resulting disconnect is obvious. Rebellion against authority is a hallmark of institutions of higher learning.
From the WICHITA EAGLE:
Every student has to battle peer pressure. With seniors like Brandon Leddy in support of the chant, it’s hard to say no.
“I try to start it,” said Leddy, a Wichita senior. “I’m a big-time football fan. I can say whatever I want.”
It’s tough to argue with sound logic like that. Everyone knows that one’s free speech rights rise proportionally with the level of one’s football fanhood.
Fancy equations aside, what could be fueling the students’ desire to yell such an obscenity? Maybe the EAGLE reporter is on to something:
So, what to do? How do you convince thousands of students — some of whom have been drinking alcohol — to not only wave the wheat but also go against the grain?
Having attended over one hundred major college football games, I feel fairly authoritative when I say that more than “some” of the students have been drinking alcohol before and during the games. With cloudy judgment a factor, clearly administration officials should go with a finesse play here, gently nudging propriety onto the pupils’ plates. Sayeth KU associate athletic director for external relations Jim Marchiony:
“It’s not about free speech. It’s about what kind of picture they want to paint of themselves. And that’s why, ultimately, the students themselves have to decide, ‘You know what? This really is not a good idea.’ “
So what could be done to stop the phrase from being yelled?
Leddy and his friend, fellow senior Joey Scanga, didn’t seem to think anything would work.
“I just don’t think there’s anything they can do,” said Scanga, a Wichita native. “Just them trying to tell us not to say it, it makes kids want to say it even more.”
And the dance continues…
11:02 am on October 8th, 2008
College students drinking and swearing? What is this world coming to?!??!
11:32 am on October 8th, 2008
They could always invite the Franciscan University of Central Kansas to join the Big 12. Or the Sam Houston Institute of Technology.
1:14 pm on October 8th, 2008
Shouldn't that be "Every student has to battle beer pressure"?
1:19 pm on October 8th, 2008
ironic that ku students never did this when their team sucked for 100 years.
then again, scratch that, they werent at the games.
1:32 pm on October 8th, 2008
I'm all for students getting hyped up and all, but using swear words in chants? What about all the kids & families in attendance?
1:56 pm on October 8th, 2008
Pfft. This is nothing. If they really want to hear some off-color words, try wearing a Yanks cap at Fenway Park.
2:24 pm on October 8th, 2008
So, what's with that weird hand-waving thing Kansas fans do?
2:44 pm on October 8th, 2008
Sadly, I think this is just a part of college football. Whenever you have a raucous student section, you're going to have to deal with profanity-laced cheers. In the Pac-10, where alcohol is not even sold in their football stadiums, the same problem still exists, so don't jump to the conclusion that it's because of drunk college football fans. I can remember as a college student whenever the refs would make a call that we disagreed with, you'd hear chants of "Bull****! Bull****!" fill the stadium.
2:57 pm on October 8th, 2008
Alcohol isn't sold in ACC stadiums either, but people get hammered before the games and sneak in airplane bottles and keep the party going.
3:23 pm on October 8th, 2008
If you're dumb enough to wear a Yankees cap at Fenway, you deserve to get cussed out.
3:50 pm on October 8th, 2008
The next time Kansas plays on TV, I'll have to keep an ear out.
6:08 pm on October 8th, 2008
What do they well when Kansas is receiving kickoffs? "Don't rip his (expletive) head off?"
11:43 pm on October 8th, 2008
Alcohol isn't served at the KU game either, but it's a college campus in a college town dominated by it. The players like the chant, and it really is pretty innocuous as far as what could happen.
I think the KU Athletics dept. needs to be focusing its efforts on its own students that appear to have problems paying parking tickets, flashing their junk to female students, and shooting passersby with b.b. guns.
Really, it's a single word that's used on a kickoff. If you've got kids, then just shrug it off. I'm sure worse has popped out of your mouth in front of them.