Gadamer, Georgia, and "Go Buffs!"
As much as I hate to say it, the time when I am the most embarrassed to be a University of Colorado football fan is when I am watching the game at the stadium. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the games, and I still love my team, but it is there that the student section, and their seeming lack of sportsmanship, is at its most obvious. This last weekend I attended the CU-Georgia game, and had a blast. As anyone who watched it will know, it was a hard-fought, well-played game that ended in a CU victory, all things that I like in a football game. However, as seems to be customary anymore, the CU students displayed a remarkable lack of courtesy when it came to the other team, and their fans. Nothing violent, thank the Gods, but chants of "F--- you, Georgia" during the game, and "It sucks to be a Georgia fan," riffing on Colorado State's chant "It's great to be a CSU Ram," following the game once again showed why Colorado fans have a bit of a bad reputation, at least around our conference.
By contrast, my experience at the game was surprisingly positive, considering I was pretty much surrounded by University of Georgia fans, some of whom had flown out here from Georgia for the game. In fact, my experience pretty well followed what our textbook mentions about Gadamer's four steps of Dialogic Communication. Even before the opening kickoff, the Georgia fans near me and I were engaged in a lively discussion about football, and some of the differences between fandom in the SEC, Georgia's conference, and fandom here at Colorado. On top of that, while it went unspoken, both parties acknowledged that the other would, in fact, be highly biased towards one of the teams about to play, and indeed, during the game, we were very vociferous in our support of our teams. Secondly, in acknowledging that bias, we didn't let it affect our perceptions of the other, as we knew ourselves that we had a similar bias, and where said bias came from. The third step of Gadamer's dialogic communication was one whose effect I had a hard time gauging with the Georgia fans, but I could easily see in myself. Seeing how knowledgeable Georgia (and I am going to assume, by extension, SEC) fans are about their team and the game in general was a broadening experience, and led me to the last step, changing of one's worldview, which gave me a new appreciation for football, football fans, and even led me to sort of like the Georgia football team.
I only wish that the CU students, and also a few unruly Georgia fans, had had similar experiences. Times like this make me thankful to my mom, who taught me about sportsmanship, and my Opa, who gave me his gift of gab, as it was a fusion of those two aspects of me that led to having such a positive experience. Absolutely, if you are at a football game, or any sporting event, you should cheer on your team, and be happy if they win. However, there is no reason that you can't do that and be ethical at the same time.
By contrast, my experience at the game was surprisingly positive, considering I was pretty much surrounded by University of Georgia fans, some of whom had flown out here from Georgia for the game. In fact, my experience pretty well followed what our textbook mentions about Gadamer's four steps of Dialogic Communication. Even before the opening kickoff, the Georgia fans near me and I were engaged in a lively discussion about football, and some of the differences between fandom in the SEC, Georgia's conference, and fandom here at Colorado. On top of that, while it went unspoken, both parties acknowledged that the other would, in fact, be highly biased towards one of the teams about to play, and indeed, during the game, we were very vociferous in our support of our teams. Secondly, in acknowledging that bias, we didn't let it affect our perceptions of the other, as we knew ourselves that we had a similar bias, and where said bias came from. The third step of Gadamer's dialogic communication was one whose effect I had a hard time gauging with the Georgia fans, but I could easily see in myself. Seeing how knowledgeable Georgia (and I am going to assume, by extension, SEC) fans are about their team and the game in general was a broadening experience, and led me to the last step, changing of one's worldview, which gave me a new appreciation for football, football fans, and even led me to sort of like the Georgia football team.
I only wish that the CU students, and also a few unruly Georgia fans, had had similar experiences. Times like this make me thankful to my mom, who taught me about sportsmanship, and my Opa, who gave me his gift of gab, as it was a fusion of those two aspects of me that led to having such a positive experience. Absolutely, if you are at a football game, or any sporting event, you should cheer on your team, and be happy if they win. However, there is no reason that you can't do that and be ethical at the same time.