We've become accustomed to reading the Washington Post and, when they talk
about Maryland fan behavior, hearing, blah, blah, blah, unfortunate, blah, blah,
blah, changes, must be made, blah, blah, blah, but Duke threw panties and
condoms at Herman Veal about 20 years ago, they're not that bad, blah, blah,
blah. So
this column came as something of a surprise. But perhaps that's
because it's not a sports column.
This writer - Marc Fisher - basically accuses the University of punting, and
he's probably exactly right. We've made the same accusation several times when
it comes to fan behavior there.
Fisher's basic point is that Maryland administrator's should quit trying to
get other people to solve the problem. Since they first passed it off to
lawyers, then to students, Fisher makes a valid and humiliating point.
We've made the same point any number of times.
However, as good a step at this article is, here's what he misses: the
fact that the Maryland students resorted to an earthy Saxon word to insult what
they perceive as the Norman-ish Blue Devils is not that big a deal. As a
matter of fact, had the game not been televised, no one would care or bother,
and we're willing to bet that a vast majority of the fans in Comcast, including
those who were offended, used that word themselves within 24 hours.
The issue is not cursing on TV; the issue is violence and intimidation, which
happens a lot at first Cole, and now Comcast.
Maryland worries about a formal policy because "when you put something down on paper, you run into the possibility that someone will take legal action," says George
Cathcart, a PR guy for Maryland.
Well, next time someone gets beaten up, they should sue. There
is a pattern of violence and intimidation which has to be stopped.
But as long as they want to focus (sort of, anyway) on language as the
problem, we repeat our suggestion for Maryland's next visit to Cameron:
when Gary starts cursing like a drunken sailor, everyone within earshot should
raise their hands, and when they do, Cameron should fall utterly silent, and
then let's see how they deal with the biggest Terp pottymouth of them all when
his cursing, like that of his partisans, goes out on national
television.