Earlier in this strange college basketball season, we discussed how some Duke Blue Devils fans allegedly made fun of a NC State player’s personal life by chanting, “How’s your grandma?” after she had recently passed away. And by allegedly I mean that some Duke fans definitely chanted that. But other Duke fans came to their school’s defense and said that I was being a big, ol’ meanie head for picking on Duke, as fans from every school are total dicks, and I definitely don’t disagree with that sentiment. It’s just fun to pick on Duke, that’s all.
In the name of fairness, we’ll pick on another school today, as fans of the University of Wyoming crossed a line, according to some, when they chanted “Alcoholic!” during last Wednesday’s game between the Cowboys and Colorado State. CSU coach Larry Eustachy, of course, has a well-documented history of alcohol abuse, something that previously cost him his coaching gig at Iowa State.
Unfortunately, Wyoming athletics marketing interns saw that decade-old story as rivalry fodder, and distributed a special flyer to catch students and fans up on the story of one man’s battle with addiction.
On Friday, Wyoming officials issued an apology for the behavior of their basketball program’s fans and especially those wacky interns:
“Our athletic director has reached out to (CSU Athletic Director) Jack Graham and told him this in no way represents what we stand for,” Wyoming athletics spokesman Tim Harkins said Friday. “He apologized to Jack, and asked Jack to apologize on his behalf to coach Eustachy. We can’t always control what students do and don’t do during a game. We appreciate their enthusiasm and support, but we don’t condone that type of behavior.”
A lot of news outlets have published pieces expressing outrage over such tasteless behavior, but just like the Duke fans crapping on a kid’s broken heart and the millions of fans at every college before them, what the hell do people expect from college students? But instead of getting all uppity about “Bros being bros” and whatnot, I’ll let this 1990s morning radio show host explain why behavior like this is never going to stop.
