The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has commanded students at high school basketball games to stop taunting, mocking or teasing the opposition, which as I recall was the only reason one attends high school basketball games. The WIAA has published a guide to sportsmanlike activities, and much of it is reasonable and wise. Not its specific prohibitions for fans, however. The content-specific bans are redolent of campus hate speech bans, but even sillier.They do teach future adult citizens the uses of censorship by authorities, however.
Maybe that’s the idea.
Here are the prohibitions on fan speech and conduct (1-23) and also athlete conduct (24-29) that are identified in the guide (I’ve rearranged them a bit), which means that schools not controlling such conduct sufficiently to satisfy their fun-hating overlords risk official sanctions. The inexcusably censorious prohibitions are in red. The overly strict or general prohibitions are in pink.
- Booing of any kind. Booing is a means of showing disapproval for any crowd. It can be unsportsmanlike, or it can be fair. Booing unsportsmanlike conduct by an athlete, for example.
- “Over-rated” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “Scoreboard” cheer Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “Air ball” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “Nuts n’ Bolts…” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “You, You, You” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “You can’t do that,” “fund-a-mentals,” “We can’t hear you,” “Warm up the bus” chants Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “Sieve, sieve, sieve” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “Nah, nah, hah, nah…hey-eyy goodbye” song; “Season’s Over” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “Push it, push it, push it” chant Harmless; good-natured teasing.
- “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A” or any acronym of derogatory language or innuendo Mostly harmless; good-natured teasing—wait, USA is a derogatory acronym? Obviously what is “derogatory” is open to interpretation.
- Any chants/comments that are disrespectful to an opponent or official, including school mascot, school nickname, school population, opponent’s town or community or that is derogatory to an individual because of race, gender, creed, body type or ability. Ridiculously over-broad and subject to arbitrary interpretation and abuse.
- Holding up papers or props during opponent introductions Harmless.
- Turning backs to court/field during opponent introductions. Bad sportsmanship for the team; free expression for fans.
- Dressing in attire that is not associated with school spirit or is inappropriate Absurdly over-broad.
- Waving arms or making movements or sudden noises in an attempt to distract an opponent. Legitimately banned as interfering with the game
- Fan participation activities while the game is actually being played (i.e. roller coaster, the wave, etc.) These are stupid. They should not be banned.
- Not standing at attention during the National Anthem or excessive talking, chanting, yelling or movement during the playing/singing of the anthem Legitimate rule.
- Throwing of any object by fans or competitors throwing/hitting equipment (pucks, balls, bats, helmets, etc.) Of course.
- Body passing Dangerous.
- Damaging any property (bleachers, hotel rooms, locker rooms, etc.) associated with a sporting event Naturally.
- Attending an event inebriated or under the influence of mood altering substances Absolutely.
- Bare-chested fans and body paint at indoor events. Really?
- Competitors not shaking hands after a contest Poor sportsmanship.
- Competitors “trash-talking” before, during or after a contest. Trash-talking is part of all sports; part of life, in fact. Can’t be banned; should be moderated.
- Competitors celebrating a play excessively by beating on chest; pointing to the crowd; dancing; or a movement perceived to be drawing attention to one’s self. Yup. That’s poor sportsmanship. Also called “acting liek an ass-hole,” and worth discouraging at an early age.
- Competitors celebrating a play by prolonged staring at an opponent, or standing over an opponent Ditto.
- Criticizing or diminishing the efforts or abilities of an opponent or official in the media before during or after a contest Legitimate area for prohibition.
- Criticizing teammates or coaches Ditto.
The tally: Of the six prohibitions on player conduct, all but one is reasonable. Out of the 23 restrictions on fan conduct, only eleven are even arguably legitimate areas for responsible regulation.
As for the rest: why not just ban cheering and be done with it?
________________________
Pointer: Fred
Source: Huffington Post
Ethics Alarms 
Clearly the answer is to wear NO attire. See how long that lasts.
I’m glad I was in marching band and pep band before all this. I wonder what they would have thought of our somewhat inventive cheers such as “Metamucil! Ex lax! Run! Run! Run!” or “Kaopectate! Imodium! Block! Block! Block!” or “Gimme an S!” (continuing through H, I, T) and ending with “What’s it spell? Brown!” (when playing Brown University). Ah, old times.
Pity Michael Sam never made it into the NFL and I didn’t get to use the “he’s big, he’s black, he takes it up his crack!” chant on him.
Jeepers! My state of domicile, America’s Dairyland can’t turn around without taking a swift one to the plums.
First, a state GOP legislator flips off one of this colleagues, in a VERY visual manner:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/gop-lawmaker-flips-off-minority-leader-on-assembly-floor/article_a7c24b91-80b1-5ef6-bd04-a3e3f95db62a.html
Now this, and you may have read the travails of our Governor.
A pretty funny article in the local paper, the Wisconsin State Journal, this
morning.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/high-school/art-kabelowsky-
wiaa-chucks-up-an-air-ball-in-attempt/article_fb022f5d-33c0-532b-a683-
957b41862b87.html
Heck, even Jay Bilas is having at us.
I long for the days when everyone was content to make fun of Illinois.
Best quote…”Even Republicans criticized the gesture.”
“Seen and not heard” was a bad idea in Victorian times; it’s not any better now. The best response would be for the students to sit there with mouths pretend-taped shut (slogans written on the “tape”?) and hands in their laps for the whole … well, be realistic … the first half of the game. This is not just a ban on fun; it’s an unnatural idea altogether to try to contain teen energy for no good reason.
The PC overlords have spoken!
So let it be written, so let it be done.
The robots will now fall in line in an orderly fashion and obediently comply.
What the hell were these people thinking?
I don’t give a damn how much common sense these people think they are imposing on sports participants and attendees but the fact is that government cannot “control” public expression of protected free speech in the United States of America with useless PC drivel unless they are willing to abolish the 1st Amendment. Of course the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association could try to publicly humiliate non-compliant students into submission by using the immoral tool of the day and sic thousands of cyber & physical mobs of compliant Hitler Youth on the non-conforming outsiders. Watch The Wave.
This is another perfect example of political correctness going completely insane trying to impose common sense and silence free speech in a clear effort to coddle the ignorant Mommies and Daddies and their offspring hordes of self-entitled little wimps thinking it’s their “right” not to be offended.
Where are the mass protests in the streets for this obvious encroachment of free speech?
Haven’t you heard? Students aren’t supposed to have free speech (except for all women who cry rape at any time for any reason, of course).
We seem to be just about at the point where athletic contests revert to a promenade and, next, there will be no score and all who attended will get a cute little momento for having shown up. After the game, prayers to the Earth Goddess will be offered by the cheerleaders.