Viewpoint: Be courteous fans

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    Val Hale, Men’s Athletic Director

    Elaine Michaelis, Women’s Athletic Director

    BYU is fortunate to have some of the best athletic fans in the country. We salute you for supporting our teams and giving us a tremendous home-court advantage whenever we compete in Provo.

    Our athletic contests are much more enjoyable for the student-athletes and spectators when we have swarms of blue-clad fans cheering wildly in the stands for the home team.

    The Athletic Department’s mission is to win with character. We

    want to be champions in all our sports. But we hope to win in a different way so people will want to learn more about BYU and the church after watching us perform on the field and/or court.

    For many people throughout the country, the only contact they have with the church this year may be watching a BYU football or basketball game.

    By the same token, the only contact some of our visiting athletes, coaches, and fans have with the church is when they come to Provo to compete against BYU.

    Their brief visit on campus will have a profound influence on how they view the church.

    We encourage all our fans to exhibit good sportsmanship at our

    athletic events.

    We want you to “raise the roof” with deafening noise in support of the home team. We want you to applaud and show appreciation for good plays by both teams. We want you to be courteous to those around you.

    Please spend your voice and your energy supporting the Cougars.

    Offensive, vulgar, or abusive language or tactics directed at opposing fans and players or the officials is inappropriate and certainly does not fall within the category of being “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.”

    The next time you are at an athletic event, ask yourself this question before you scream something at an opposing player or fan: “Next week, if the missionaries knock at that person’s door, is he/she going to be more or less apt to invite them in after hearing my comment?”

    If the comment is demeaning or derogatory, please leave it unsaid.

    Again, we appreciate your support of all our sports. You really

    do make a big difference in the outcome of the game when you show up and support the team.

    Cheer loud. Cheer hard. And cheer appropriately. Have lots of fun. See you at the games!

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