Courtney wrote this week about fan behavior in her blog. She commented on how it seemed funny to be treating this one team so differently than other competitors. Why were we, the Penn State student body, making such a big deal about being nice to the Alabama fans? I agree with a lot of what she said. All visitors should be treated with respect and hospitality. It is our job to treat other people with the same respect we would want--it's the golden rule, one that we all learned in kindergarten. In regards to why we were focusing so much on welcoming the Alabama fans, I think that the marketing needed to start somewhere. This program would not have been as successful I think if we started a campaign to be good sports the week before the Ohio State or Iowa game. The fact that so many people felt so welcomed at the game last year makes us want to return the favor. And since we are working so hard to treat Alabama fans nicely, it should theoretically continue into the upcoming game--treat everyone respectfully.
I personally loved seeing the facebook events and groups pop-up in the weeks before the Alabama game--our work creating our policy proposals during last year was actually being implemented. What frustrated me was that during the game, the Alabama players and fans were still booed. It only took a handful of students to start the booing as the players ran out of the tunnel, but it was enough to get the whole student section going. Even if you were silent when they were coming out, it wasn't an effective response because the boos were so much louder. I didn't see too many instances of Penn Staters going out of their way to welcome the Crimson Tide. Maybe it just takes time. Hopefully this will get people thinking about the way we are perceived as fans and how we want to treat visitors.
I personally loved seeing the facebook events and groups pop-up in the weeks before the Alabama game--our work creating our policy proposals during last year was actually being implemented. What frustrated me was that during the game, the Alabama players and fans were still booed. It only took a handful of students to start the booing as the players ran out of the tunnel, but it was enough to get the whole student section going. Even if you were silent when they were coming out, it wasn't an effective response because the boos were so much louder. I didn't see too many instances of Penn Staters going out of their way to welcome the Crimson Tide. Maybe it just takes time. Hopefully this will get people thinking about the way we are perceived as fans and how we want to treat visitors.
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