YOUTH CULTURE LESSON
FINDING TEACHABLE MOMENTS IN CULTURE
FROM YOUTHWORKER JOURNAL AND YOUTHWORKER.COM
BOOOO!
DISCOURAGING WORDS
TAKE CENTER COURT
IN WISCONSIN
By Paul Asay
WHAT HAPPENED
If you go to a
basketball game
anywhere in America
and someone misses a
shot, you’re likely to
hear chants of “aaaiiir
ballll, aaaiiir ball!”
You’ll probably hear
lots of other fanchants, too…unless
perhaps you attend a
high school game in
Wisconsin.
WHAT HAPPENED
Late last year, the Wisconsin Interscholastic
Athletic Association sent an email to students,
warning basketball fans not to “taunt or
disrespect” opposing teams with their chants.
Among the phrases considered to be no-nos are
“air ball,” “fundamentals,” “We can’t hear you,”
and “There’s a net there.”
WHAT HAPPENED
It took a while for the email to reach the attention
of the media, but once it did the WIAA was
showered in boos. Critics ranging from the leftleaning website Salon to the sports gurus at ESPN
mocked the idea of banning disparaging chants.
Stephen Colbert also jumped in the fray.
“I think this is crazy,” he said on “The Late Show.”
“Watching basketball without chanting is like
watching baseball without napping.”
WHAT HAPPENED
“In what state is a 16-year-old kid yelling ‘Airrrrrballllll’ considered something that’s so
disrespectful it needs to be banned?” writes
Sports Illustrated’s Kenny Ducey. “How is
reminding the other team that you need to improve
your fundamentals a bad thing? Who chants,
‘There’s a net there’ anyway? Also, what if a
student is tossed for chanting one of the above
phrases? What are you going to yell at him if you
can’t yell ‘You can’t do that!’”
WHAT HAPPENED
However, Wisconsin officials say the email was
blown out of proportion. The WIAA has cautioned
high schoolers to curb unfriendly chants for more
than a decade, and the association never has
punished a school for its air-ball-chanting fans.
The email was simply a reminder, the organization
says, for fans to treat opponents with respect.
TALK ABOUT IT
What do you think about Wisconsin’s guidelines
on game-time chants?
Do you think booing or calls of “air ball” should be
banned? Do you think it can be banned?
Is it bad sportsmanship to boo?
If you’re an athlete, what do you think about those
sorts of chants—particularly when they’re directed
at you? Does it bother you? Make you mad? Is it
merely part of the game?
TALK ABOUT IT
Regardless of what you think about the situation in
Wisconsin, the hubbub reminds us that we all
sometimes hear things we’d rather not. Criticism—
deserved or not—often is merely part of the game,
and to some extent we all have to deal with it.
TALK ABOUT IT
When have you had to deal with criticism or taunts
outside athletics?
When has someone made fun of you? How did you
handle it?
Is there a difference between playful taunts and
outright bullying or abuse?
Where should the line be drawn between the two?
TALK ABOUT IT
Is chanting “air ball” during a basketball game
different than belittling someone in real life? Why?
Have you ever taken a joke or a taunt too far?
How important is it to treat people with respect?
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love
your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to
you, Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be sons of your
Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise
on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:43-45).
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
“Do nothing from
rivalry or conceit,
but in humility
count others more
significant than
yourselves. Let
each of you look not
only to his own
interests, but also to
the interests of
others” (Phil. 2:3-4).
“So whatever you wish
that others would do to
you, do also to them, for
this is the Law and the
Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
“We are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to
despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck
down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9).
“I know how to be brought low, and I know
how to abound. In any and every
circumstance, I have learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger, abundance and
need. I can do all things through Him who
strengthens me” (Phil. 4:12-13).