We all have crossed the line
Bridget O'Connor
Kickin' new flavor in your ear
It seems we are all agreed that the "waterboy" crossed the line. That line is one we all walk every day and sometimes cross ourselves. He just did it in a very public and juvenile way. There is no excuse for what he did.
Despite two warnings, including a direct appeal from the head coach, he could not overcome the childish impulse to throw a Powerade bottle in frustration. The extent of the stupidity of his action has been thoroughly explored and expressed in various formats by students, alumni and staff of the University in both campus and other media outlets.
Some of the discourses (particularly those on the Internet) have demonstrated that the waterboy is not alone in being unable to deal with his emotions appropriately. While these postings are unlikely to cost the men's basketball team postseason chances, they reflect a level of immaturity and poor judgment on par with that shown by the waterboy himself.
His misbehavior has also brought the image of the student body as a whole into question as being one of obnoxious, destructive fans.
Those who regularly attended men's basketball games this season will hopefully disagree with these mischaracterizations of the student section, or "the sixth man," as it is introduced before every home game. Until the Syracuse game, basketball games were — with a few exceptions — a refreshing combination of exciting athletic performance, high crowd energy and generally good behavior. Unlike football games, the student section was filled with fired-up, knowledgeable and, for the most part, sober and coherent supporters.
Unfortunately, as the men on the court tried to meet the mounting pressure of a two-point deficit with under 10 seconds left in the game to hold on to NCAA tournament hopes, it became too much for the waterboy and he responded by sending his Powerade bottle into orbit.
Let us not forget that he is not alone in crossing the line. Two others in the crowd had done it before him. Their identities and whereabouts are not being circulated or their safety threatened. Nor should they be. But to pin this all on the head of a single sophomore is crossing the line as well.
Perhaps in the heat of the moment, the waterboy forgot he was at a basketball game, thought he was holding a squid or dead fish and it was halftime at a football game.
After all, he is not the first person in this University to trample on the long hours of hard work of a group of dedicated students.
Last year when the band was repeatedly pelted with marine life, its members were offended and incensed. Fortunately, the collective student body returned to its senses and focused on getting hammered and pelting each other with marshmallows and other assorted items. For the little girl that was injured during those incidents and the numerous families and fans unlucky enough to get seats in the vicinity of the student section, the impact of students crossing the line of acceptability was already all too familiar.
Every weekend in residence halls, bars and other social settings, students cross the line from fun and social to out of control, dangerous and disgusting. There is not a big difference between outrageous and obnoxious but once you've gone across the line — as the waterboy knows all too well — you cannot take it back.
The added pressure of maintaining the previously pristine image of the University and its outstanding student ambassadors only enhances the pressure of succeeding in all aspects of a well-rounded college life. Every day we, like many other college students across the country, are faced with decisions about how to spend our time and energy. Those who choose to take the challenge and compete with the best of both worlds (academic and social) are faced with decisions of how much is too much in either aspect of their lives.
Sometimes we, like the waterboy, make the wrong choice and go overboard in one direction or the other. Granted, we don't do it in front of the entire student body and a national television audience with less than 10 seconds on the clock and down by two points, but the idea is the same.
All we can do is take each decision as it comes, learn from his and our mistakes and leave the Powerade at home.
Bridget is a senior majoring in government and Irish studies. Her column appears every other Monday and she can be reached by e-mail at O'Connor.67@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, March 6, 2000
