2008 Woodie Awards
Dropping the ball on school spirit
Ben Nielsen
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
How much do you love Southwest Baptist University, more specifically, its athletic teams?
Keep this question in mind as I relay to you the following story:
According to the "Houston Chronicle," Allen Michael Beckett, 53, a former military person and a current deacon at his church, faces a felony charge of assault and battery as a result of a fight with 32-year-old Brian Thomas who was wearing a University of Texas shirt. Beckett, a University of Oklahoma fan, is said to have grabbed the 32-year-old by his genitals and pulled with enough force to rip the skin severely. So severely, Thomas' lawyer is quoted in the "Chronicle" as saying one could "see both of his testicles hanging on the outside of his body." More than 60 stitches were needed to mend the wound.
It should be noted that neither Beckett nor Thomas attended Oklahoma or Texas.
Now, it is NEVER okay to do what Beckett did to Jones in any circumstance involving sport. Jones could even be a St. Louis Cardinals fan, but it would still not justify grabbing a man by his life source and nearly ripping it off of him.
With this said, how much do you love SBU (awkward transition, I know)?
I do find it curious that people at SBU are more concerned about how the Cardinals are depicted in the "Omnibus" more than they are concerned about athletes of SBU teams. There is no outcry of the dissenting opinion when it comes to SBU athletics or any other issue for that matter. I could probably write anything I want, within reason, about a football player or coach and not have a single non-athlete mention anything. No one would challenge my opinion or bring information to the table that would question my opinion. However, if I were to challenge the value of Jason Isringhousen to the Cardinals bullpen, my life would be in serious jeopardy.
As a student body, we are more willing to jump to the defense of a multi-million dollar athlete before we would jump to the defense of a classmate who happens to be an athlete. I am just as guilty of this as everyone else.
There is no one person or entity to blame for this issue. At this point, it is not really worth figuring out anyway.
The reality is that there are people passionate enough about institutions like Oklahoma and Texas to mutilate another person. While we should not go as far as to mutilate someone, we should be developing the passion that represents a body of people we will forever be connected to. It is not about football or soccer or any other sport. It is about the people who are using those avenues to represent the students of this university. SBU athletic teams should not be playing for themselves. They should be playing for the past, present and future students of this school. I do not think this idea has been grasped by the SBU community.
It is for that reason that we view an incident like the one in Oklahoma with such shock and disbelief. We do not know what it is like to care for a university. Hopefully we can develop that sometime soon.
Keep this question in mind as I relay to you the following story:
According to the "Houston Chronicle," Allen Michael Beckett, 53, a former military person and a current deacon at his church, faces a felony charge of assault and battery as a result of a fight with 32-year-old Brian Thomas who was wearing a University of Texas shirt. Beckett, a University of Oklahoma fan, is said to have grabbed the 32-year-old by his genitals and pulled with enough force to rip the skin severely. So severely, Thomas' lawyer is quoted in the "Chronicle" as saying one could "see both of his testicles hanging on the outside of his body." More than 60 stitches were needed to mend the wound.
It should be noted that neither Beckett nor Thomas attended Oklahoma or Texas.
Now, it is NEVER okay to do what Beckett did to Jones in any circumstance involving sport. Jones could even be a St. Louis Cardinals fan, but it would still not justify grabbing a man by his life source and nearly ripping it off of him.
With this said, how much do you love SBU (awkward transition, I know)?
I do find it curious that people at SBU are more concerned about how the Cardinals are depicted in the "Omnibus" more than they are concerned about athletes of SBU teams. There is no outcry of the dissenting opinion when it comes to SBU athletics or any other issue for that matter. I could probably write anything I want, within reason, about a football player or coach and not have a single non-athlete mention anything. No one would challenge my opinion or bring information to the table that would question my opinion. However, if I were to challenge the value of Jason Isringhousen to the Cardinals bullpen, my life would be in serious jeopardy.
As a student body, we are more willing to jump to the defense of a multi-million dollar athlete before we would jump to the defense of a classmate who happens to be an athlete. I am just as guilty of this as everyone else.
There is no one person or entity to blame for this issue. At this point, it is not really worth figuring out anyway.
The reality is that there are people passionate enough about institutions like Oklahoma and Texas to mutilate another person. While we should not go as far as to mutilate someone, we should be developing the passion that represents a body of people we will forever be connected to. It is not about football or soccer or any other sport. It is about the people who are using those avenues to represent the students of this university. SBU athletic teams should not be playing for themselves. They should be playing for the past, present and future students of this school. I do not think this idea has been grasped by the SBU community.
It is for that reason that we view an incident like the one in Oklahoma with such shock and disbelief. We do not know what it is like to care for a university. Hopefully we can develop that sometime soon.
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