By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
Whoever said sporting events are a great, safe environment to take the family never attended a college basketball game between cross-town rivals.
No, when two large groups of college kids get together in an enclosed space, many of them having done what in the world of higher learning is known as “prepping up,” the result is modern-day verbal warfare. College sports is the one thing that can bring together a large group of fans under the banner of unity and change them all from blossoming young scholars to rabid, cussing, out-of-control fans.
Such was the case at last weekend’s men’s basketball contest between the Waves and the Lions of Loyola-Marymount University.
On paper, one would have trouble understanding why this simple, regular-season contest between WCC foes means so much to fans. After all, Pepperdine hasn’t lost to LMU since 1996.
But the paper never tells the whole story. In reality, this game means so much simply because LMU is really our closest rival besides UCLA and USC, and those schools, with tens of thousands of undergrads, aren’t a fair measuring stick. No, LMU is like our ugly twin sister, and losing to them reflects back on every student, and we just can’t have that.
So, in the name of pride, hundreds of anxious Pepperdine youths carpooled their way to Gershen Pavilion last Saturday night for their annual chance to remind the student body of LMU why our school is still better than theirs, and, oh yeah, so is our basketball team.
Maybe it was the stop-and-go traffic on the way to the game, or maybe it was something they had to eat that day in the Caf, but Pepperdine students seemed just a little more rowdy on this night. Because of the traffic, many of the loyal Waves fans didn’t arrive at the game until halftime, but they wasted little time in getting things going. It was like a sea of orange suddenly appeared and transformed the match-up from a run-of-the-mill regular season basketball game to a battle for supremacy of the Pacific Coast.
No one likes getting out-cheered in their own gym, especially by a bunch of people dressed in bright, orange shirts. And that might be what led to the hostility that suddenly emerged. Now it wasn’t just about whether or not we scored, but how we cheered when they didn’t.
In a close game, this can lead to dangerously high tensions. Soon words were being flung back and forth that would have made Richard Pryor squirm, and that doesn’t even include the hand gestures.
Yes, even at a Christian school like Pepperdine, fans are foul-mouthed, but that’s just part of the game. “Pass the gosh darn ball, please” just doesn’t have the right ring.
In the end of a tightly contested game, the Waves emerged victorious, allowing them to stay in the running for the conference title, and allowing all the fans the right to talk even more trash after the game. Oh, the sweet taste of victory in an opponent’s gym, there’s nothing like it.
It may not seem right, it may not seem like good etiquette, but that’s college basketball, whether we like it or not. So, go ahead, bring the family, just prepare to do a little explaining after the game.
January 30, 2003