By Michael Meru
Saturday night''s defeat of Oklahoma State was a huge win for the BYU basketball squad, yet due to the fans, it resulted in an even larger loss for the university.
'Coach Keller leaned over to me and said, ''Daniel, what''s wrong with your church?''' said Daniel Bobik, Oklahoma State guard, former Cougar and active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The BYU crowd at the Delta Center made a much stronger case than just the expected and semi-deserved boos that Bobik received. They took comments a step further by shouting remarks such as, 'This is what happens when you leave the church' and 'You''re a traitor to your religion.'
'After Daniel got home and had some time to think, he said the comment from his coach was more painful than losing the game,' said Natalie Bobik, Daniel Bobik''s wife.
Val Hale, athletic director for BYU, issued a statement Monday, Dec. 8, encouraging fans to be more mindful of the impressions they leave with their behavior.
'We need to support our team, but we should avoid taunting or poor behavior aimed at the opposing team and its fans,' Hale wrote.
Bobik played two seasons for the BYU Cougars before transferring to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
'The guy behind me made derogatory comments about Oklahoma and people that live there,' said Chris Crosby, a BYU student from Provo. 'If I had been from Oklahoma, I would have left with a very bad impression of BYU and what it represents.'
The game was not broadcast in Utah, but in Oklahoma it was broadcast across the state without commercial interruptions. During warm-ups, time-outs, halftime and after the game, the cameras focused in on the crowd at every opportunity and listened in on the comments that were made.
'I think what is said during competition should not be taken personally, but the things that were said were just unmerited,' Crosby said. 'For some reason a lot of BYU fans feel it is OK to forget about being good missionaries and about being Christ-like. During competition, you can''t check your Christian values at the arena door and pick them back up on the way out.'
BYU played an amazing game and the dominance of Rafael Araujo was evident. The cougars played with pride and good sportsmanship, yet their own fans brought them down off the court.
'Usually I am a big BYU fan, but after Saturday I am not sure,' said Ryan Haws, a BYU student from Thousand Oaks, Calif. 'That was the biggest show of unsportsman-like conduct I have ever seen. I have never been more ashamed of BYU.'
One BYU fan reported sitting next to a couple that was visiting Salt Lake City for the first time, and the fans behind him were yelling negative remarks about Bobik and his religion. The fan said the couple came with a positive ideal of what LDS members were like, and left with that being destroyed.
'At halftime a BYU professor and a man who works in the Church Office Building came up to me and said, ''I have never wanted BYU to lose so badly because of the way the crowd is acting,''' Natalie Bobik said. 'They''re huge BYU fans and they were appalled. Tons of people came up to apologize to me for the crowd.'
Natalie Bobik also said the Relief Society president of her ward in Oklahoma was appalled and embarrassed about the conduct of the BYU fans and was dreading going to work because of that fact that she was going to have to explain to all of the employees why LDS people would act the way they did.
This same issue was addressed in September when the BYU fans got out of control towards the referees at the BYU vs. Georgia Tech football game.
'I was especially saddened by the article about the referee that had been investigating the church but no longer has any desire to do so because of our fans'' actions,' said David Riding of Mapleton, in a letter to the editor of the Daily Universe on Sept. 17.