Yet another really bad idea

Okay, so today's topic is a bit more obscure than what I usually cover, but Jim Rome mentioned it on his show today, and I really felt the need to take it and run with it.

So, here's the story. You can read it for yourself, but the bottom line is that the Western Athletic Conference is cracking down on fan behavior at their games, specifically targeting "chants or cheers that contain obscene, vulgar, offensive or threatening language". The new rule is to be enforced with the calling of a technical foul on the home team.

Let me say, first of all, that I don't have a real problem with efforts to cut down the amount of profanity at sporting events. I've got no problem with heckling the opposing team and all the various back and forth that comes with sporting events. My favorite college basketball team, Duke, has fans that are notorious for their heckling and chants. However, in recent years, stuff like this has gotten out of hand in a number of venues, to the point where it's often just not a good environment for people (especially families with young children) to watch a game. And the chants that involve profanity and vulgarity are rarely that clever or amusing. I'm certainly a free speech guy, but I really don't have a problem with rules designed to allow for a certain amount of decorum at a sporting event.

This approach, however, is an absolutely terrible idea. I think you're treading on very dangerous territory when you start punishing the participants in a sporting event for the actions of the spectators. I can see going that route in extreme instances, like when stuff starts getting thrown on the field/court in large quantities. In cases like that, fan behavior is actually interfering with the game being played. But the simple reality is that players and coaches have zero actual control over what the fans do. They can give talks and make requests, but that's the extent of it. The idea that a team could potentially lose a close game because of the words of some obnoxious fans is very problematic for me. And the fact that apparently something as simple as a large group "You suck" taunt is in violation of the rule tells me they are taking things too seriously on top of that. And really, how long will it take in this day and age for a bunch of kids from the visiting school to show up in home team garb and break the rule in an effort to get a T called on their opponents. Not everyone in the home gym is rooting for the home team, after all.

Personally, I think at the college level, these sort of issues should be left up to the individual schools. If they are comfortable with the behavior of the students and others who attend their games, then that should probably be the end of it. However, if the conference feels a need to impose its will in this area, then they should do so in a fashion that doesn't actually impose penalties on the game being played. Fine schools for incidents that occur in their gyms, or something like that. Let's stick to keeping the players on the floor accountable for their own actions, and not the actions of their classmates in the stands.