Submission Date:
November 20, 2008
From: Rachel Hicks, Liz Montgomery, Lydia Saldana
To:
Dr. Art Fricke
Re:
“Proposal Rough Draft and Progress Memos”, Eng 2311-036, due 11/20/2008
Report title: “Red Raider Pride: Sportsmanship at Tech”
The Problem
College football is an exciting experience. Thousands of people come from all over to support
their team. The stands are filled with anxious fans. Everyone wears the colors that represent
their team. The atmosphere is tense. Fans desperately want to see their team come out
victorious.
However, the atmosphere of college football has its drawbacks. The excitement of fans can turn
into destructive and disrespectful behavior. Unsportsmanlike behavior seems to be inevitable at
college football games, but that does not make it acceptable.
Our very own University has fallen into this category. The students at Texas Tech have
displayed rude and disrespectful behavior at football games. How have we let ourselves come to
be known as “bad sports?”
Many negative events have happened at football games in the last ten years. These events have
been student-lead. Our students have acquired a bad reputation as a result of all of the negative
behavior we have showed in the past.
One instance that has tainted the reputation of the student is the “Vick ‘em” t-shirts. In 2007,
members of Texas Tech’s Theta Chi fraternity decided to make t-shirts to raise money for their
chapter. Theta Chi member, Scott Klingle, created the drawing for the shirt. The shirt depicted
“the likeness of Michael Vick hanging Texas A&M University’s mascot, Reveille, from a
noose.”1 Michael Vick was an NFL player who was arrested for being involved with dog
fighting. An article in the “Daily Toreador” stated that less than 300 shirts were printed. 2
However, the fraternity was restricted from selling the shirts on campus.
Some people found the t-shirts funny. However, many people were offended by them. The
students responsible had to make an apology to “Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University,
and the general public.” 3 This one event caused Texas Tech and its students to be seen
1
Casady, Michelle. "Theta Chi Suspended for "Vick 'em" Shirts." The Daily Toreador. 10 Oct. 2007.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/10/10/news/theta.chi.su
spended.for.vick.em.shirts-3022692.shtml>.
2
Casady, Michelle. "Theta Chi Suspended for "Vick 'em" Shirts." The Daily Toreador. 10 Oct. 2007.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/10/10/news/theta.chi.su
spended.for.vick.em.shirts-3022692.shtml>.
3
Casady, Michelle. "Theta Chi Suspended for "Vick 'em" Shirts." The Daily Toreador. 10 Oct. 2007.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/10/10/news/theta.chi.su
spended.for.vick.em.shirts-3022692.shtml>.
negatively by the nation. Unsportsmanlike behavior had a big impact on the reputation of the
students and the University.
Texas Tech students showed unsportsmanlike behavior at another event involving Texas A&M
University. Texas Tech defeated the Aggies in 2001 with a 12-0 victory. After the game, “Tech
fans tore down the goalpost in the south end zone following Tech’s win and carried it to the
north end zone where Aggie fans were seated.”4 A fight ended up breaking out between the
Raiders and the Aggies. People were injured in the process.
This is a perfect example of college football excitement going too far. Our students acted
carelessly. It was disrespectful to thrust a goalpost into an area of fans from the opposing team.
Our University had to make an official apology to Texas A&M University once again.
Other actions of our students have contributed to our negative reputation as well. One main
issue is our fight song. Our students have been singing alternate words to the fight song that use
profane language. These actions have not gone unnoticed. The SGA chief of staff in 2005 said
that “the profane language tarnishes the image of the University.”5
We should not just accept this unsportsmanlike behavior as commonplace in a college
atmosphere. Not every University acts the way our students have acted. Nebraska fans have
proved that they can still enjoy college football while being respectful. The Longhorns broke
Nebraska’s winning streak of 47 home game wins in 1998. After the game, “Husker fans
provided the exiting Longhorns with their characteristic standing ovation for the opponent.”6
The Nebraska fans showed class after the game. Obviously they didn’t feel the need to tear
down their goalpost and thrust it in the Longhorn’s faces.
Nebraska fans portrayed a positive example of sportsmanship to our own fans as well. The
Cornhusker Band played our fight song for us when we didn’t have our band at an away game. 7
The Red Raiders could learn a thing or two from Nebraska fans.
4
Riddle, Phil. "Fans Engage in Post-Game Brawl." The Daily Toreador. 04 Nov. 2001.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2001/11/04/campu
snews/fans-engage.in.postgame.brawl-1272839.shtml>.
5
Wood, Andrew. "The Good and the Bad: Tech Gameday Traditions Continue." The Daily Toreador. 23
Sept. 2005.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2005/09/23/campu
snews/the-good.and.the.bad.tech.gameday.traditions.continue-1281470.shtml>.
6
Rao, Sandeep. "Nebraska Fans Could Tech Techsans About Sportsmanship." The Daily Toreador. 19
Oct. 2001.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2001/10/19/opinion
s/nebraska.fans.could.teach.techsans.about.sportsmanship-1272698.shtml>.
7
Rao, Sandeep. "Nebraska Fans Could Tech Techsans About Sportsmanship." The Daily Toreador. 19
Oct. 2001.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2001/10/19/opinion
s/nebraska.fans.could.teach.techsans.about.sportsmanship-1272698.shtml>.
An important thing to remember is that our unsportsmanlike behavior does not just affect the
people directly associated with Texas Tech. It affects Lubbock residents, families, and the
general public as well.
The alternate words that our students sing to the fight song do not just offend people sitting
nearby. During the games, “the words can be heard on television.” 8 Anyone in the nation who
is watching a Red Raider game can hear the profanity of the students. An article in the “Daily
Toreador” stated that “the University received concerned remarks from alumni and Lubbock
residents about the behavior of the student crowd.”9 It is apparent that we need to make a change
when our University gets attention for the negative things that we do.
All of the events combined inevitably leads to our Tech students having a reputation of being
“bad sports.” A reputation is much easier to break than to build up. Our students have not
always acted the way they should. However, we should still want to correct our reputation and
solve our problem of unsportsmanlike behavior.
Current Actions Being Taken
We are certainly not the first group of students to recognize bad sportsmanship as a problem at
Texas Tech. Just last year, you, the SGA, teamed up with the Center for Campus Life to start the
“stay classy” campaign. It was to encourage students to use the correct words when singing the
fight song.
This campaign was effective in some ways because it focused on promoting good sportsmanship
from a student perspective. The SGA hoped the campaign would be on a personal level with
students, which might help them remember to sing the right words to the fight song during
athletic events (Wheeler). Free t-shirts were handed out to students to try to enforce this. The
idea of handing out t-shirts with a picture of Ron Burgandy on them saying “Stay Classy Texas
Tech” was clever and therefore appealing to students.
Also last year, the Raider Power campaign was started by the Texas Tech Athletic Department. It
was the first official organized spirit/sportsmanship campaign through athletics and was
officially adopted by Mayor David Miller on behalf of the City of Lubbock (?).
Wood, Andrew. "The Good and the Bad: Tech Gameday Traditions Continue." The Daily Toreador. 23
Sept. 2005.Texas Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2005/09/23/campu
snews/the-good.and.the.bad.tech.gameday.traditions.continue-1281470.shtml>.
8
Gunter, Sally. "Committee Stresses Sportsmanship at Games." The Daily Toreador. 05 Feb. 2004.Texas
Tech
University.<http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2004/02/05/campu
snews/committee.stresses.sportsmanship.at.games-1278085.shtml>.
9
The Raider Power campaign had a simple objective: To promote spirit and sportsmanship by
defining “Raider Power” as Honor, Respect, Pride and Tradition (?). The purpose of the
campaign was to strive to create an atmosphere that included all four of those things. It was not
only aimed at Texas Tech students but at all Texas Tech fans.
The campaign tried to be effective by first defining why sportsmanship is important. The creators
of Raider Power wanted fans to understand the importance of arriving early, staying late,
respecting our opponents and supporting our student-athletes in both victory and defeat (?). They
then defined what school spirit is, followed by what exactly “Raider Power” is. There was a
website created that summed up all of these components of the campaign.
While both the “Stay Classy” and the Raider Power campaigns had good intentions, it does not
seem like either of them promoted much improvement in the overall sportsmanship of Tech fans.
The “Stay Classy” campaign had the right idea by using students to do the promoting rather than
official authority. This is probably what made it more effective than the Raider Power campaign.
However, sportsmanship could have been better improved had they focused on other areas
besides the fight song.
The Raider Power campaign seemed to have a solid foundation and even a large following, but
may not have been greatly effective because of who the founders of the program were. It also
seems that there were not many things done physically to promote sportsmanship, but rather they
were simply encouraged verbally.
By taking all of these weaknesses into account, our program might be able to actively promote
the better sportsmanship of all of Texas Tech’s fans.
The Solution
Texas Tech sportsmanship has been looked down upon many times by the media and other
schools. Tech has tried to implement a program but still has yet to take make a big impact. Some
believe it is because administration makes a big deal about it. Others students believe the
program will just elevate bad sportsmanship. This just makes students rebel against it. There are
other ways to convince the student body to show good sportsmanship. One is to make them
compete for an award or just have a star athlete to promote a new attitude.
A challenge should help the students accept a change. Since fans like competition, they can
compete for a sportsmanship award. We have researched and found out that there is no such
reward that exists for students. There were only rewards for athletes that demonstrated good
sportsmanship. For instance “Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) Sportsmanship Award
recognizes an outstanding NCAA Bowl Division collegiate football player who best personifies
the spirit of sportsmanship” (Yalebulldogs).
This would give Texas Tech a chance to implement a sportsmanship award for fans. Tech can
have the Big 12 Conference initiate it. This way all the Big 12 teams can compete against each
other. This award can go to the University with the best sportsmanship during the season. Since
no Big 12 team has received this award, this should give encouragement. Tech students would
want to be the first to win this title and recognition. This would push the students to strive for
another award or recognition from the program. The award could involve money as part of the
prize. This can result into making our team look better in front of the nation.
Another way to get students to show good sportsmanship is to get the athletes involved. Many
students do not like faculty constantly getting on to them. Students are more willing to listen to
their peers. Athletes are a very influential part of the student body. They can always make the
crowd cheer and chant. Therefore, the athletes could use this power to try to convince students
to cheer and chant in positive ways. The star players can do a video before or during half time.
The video can have them talking about how the students should show good sportsmanship. They
can state how positive attitudes encourage them while they are playing out on the field. The
players can also have them chant respectful sayings.
In addition, there are many young students looking forward to going to Tech in the future.
Athletes, in their off season, can go out to elementary, junior, or high schools to give
presentations about good sportsmanship. This will be effective because many young kids see
college athletes as role models. Kids will already know how to show support for the team in
positive ways if they are taught good sportsmanship from an early age. This idea could help to
eliminate bad sportsmanlike conduct in the future. It could also help Tech get closer to winning
the Sportsmanship Award.
These three solutions can go hand-in-hand and can be implemented together. Having an athlete
encourage good sportsmanship can help to eliminate bad sportsmanlike conduct in the future.
This program could also help Tech get closer to winning sportsmanship awards and positive
recognition from the nation.