Respect

[oldestlion]

I'm as excited as anyone else to see the new Lions take the floor, but worse than anticipating the drive up the 405 from OC is the thought that Gersten will again be the home of total disrespect for our National Anthem.

Instead of hooting and screaming at inappropriate times during the Anthem, why not gain the reputation for LMU as the school where the Anthem is sung proudly and in full voice from the opening notes to the end?

Gersten, for all its faults, still presents well and in time our team will be championship caliber, our cheer squad is outstanding and the pep band continues to get better. Let's bring excellence to the entire experience by eliminating that one element that make us look really bad.

[runthesystem]

That's a tough trend to buck, oldest. I haven't been to a sports event anywhere in the last 10 years where that hasn't happened.

Welcome to the board!

[oldestlion]

Understand, but we're also bucking a trend by trying to build a program against great odds but we're doing something about it.

Obviously, it's either a tough subject to handle or it has created almost total disinterest -80 views with only one respose.

Anyone out there from ROAR that agrees with my thoughts and has the guts to get the process started? I believe that the fans in ROAR are the worst offenders - if they consider the custom offensive.

[fanblade]

Welcome oldestlion to the board.

I actually never really noticed disrespectful antics during the national anthem. Personally I'm not sure it is necessary for all of Gersten to erupt into song but I do think other schools like UCLA may put forth a little more effort. If ROAR or the basketball operations crew were interested in making the anthem a more... stately... then I do have some suggestions on how to do it! For one, they could put the words to the anthem on the video screen when there is not guest singer. This will help the ignorant few who have no idea what the words are and also emphasize that this is a sing-a-long, not a time to gawk and high-5 nearby friends.

[lmutex]

As a former member of ROAR, here's my .02:

I've been fortunate enough to attend a lot of sporting events in my life, and what occurs in Gersten is pretty much the norm--you've got the majority being quiet and respectful, with some hoots and hollers from the peanut gallery. Personally, I don't mind the hoots and hollers; in fact, I see it as quasi-American in a way (i.e. free speech during a govt.-sponsored song/event). Regardless, I believe the anthem isn't as sacrosanct as a lot of people make it out to be.

Oldestlion--maybe you can refer to a specific incident, so we can get some context here.

[oldestlion]

Thanks for the idea, fanblade. I'll contact the powers that be and suggest that they put the words on the screen whether or not we have a guest singer and then announce encouragement for everyone to sing. It is then an option, like school prayer.

[oldestlion]

I guess it's generational sensitivity, tex but I'm disturbed greatly when the fans build to a holler and shreik when the words, "O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave" are sung. I wonder if those fans that I consider offenders really understand what those words mean.

I can't remember when that didn't happen at a LMU basketball game last season, unless there weren't enough people in the ROAR section to make a difference.

[dedicatedlionfan]

I know that this is a different sport, but look at baseball!! they do it all the time?!!!

[lionspride]

Anything to make Gersten more classy and get the fans involved, I am all for oldestlion.

I will do my part in singing along.

Is there anything else we fans can do to make the "environment" unique or to start a trend in college basketball? Duke has those crazy jumping students.....what can we do as fans that is unique and memorable to make a very fun and exciting basketball environment?

ANY THOUGHTS???

[lionboy]

I am a current Roar member, and most likely one of the "offenders" that yells at the end of the national anthem. I am also one of the few people in Gersten who sing along to the anthem. I think both are "patriotic" acts but, I come from a hockey background where everyone usually sings/yells during the entire national anthem. I think everyone should sing along to the anthem, but for whatever reason some people feel that it is actually unpatriotic to sing and should stand with their hands over their heart in silence to show the greatest respect.
It'd be great to get everyone to do the same thing, but so many people have different feelings about what is best during the anthem, I have been told to shut-up many times for simply singing the national anthem(on-key I think?).
The student body can come up with an interesting way to start off the game. I think itd be great if we could get the entire stadium standing/cheering to start the game, until the opposing team scores, which isn't original and probably wouldn't have been too much fun last year, but is a start.

[lionspride]

Jun 24, 2008 12:23:05 GMT -5 lionboy said:

The student body can come up with an interesting way to start off the game. I think itd be great if we could get the entire stadium standing/cheering to start the game, until the opposing team scores, which isn't original and probably wouldn't have been too much fun last year, but is a start.

I'm on board with your suggestion lionboy. How do we inform the other lions fan of this at games??? We need some of the roar members or cheerleaders to be assigned to sections of the alumni/booster side to encourage this act of standing and cheering until the opposing team scores. We need a documented LIONS FAN bill of rights that details everything out. Or if we can get the Athletic department to include traditions or encourage this when they send out the Season Tickets to those Season Ticket Holders.

[lmutex]

A Lions Fan Bill of Rights?

Shall we incur parliamentary procedure to see who gets to urinate first in the bathrooms at halftime?

Look, this is basketball. It doesn't have (or want) the tradition of the three other majors (base/foot/hockey). It's a free-flowing, impulsive and expressionary game. And that's what I love about it.

Telling people when to cheer/stand up is inane. And if some ROAR punk comes up to me next year to try and do so, he'll get a shower of my pre-/during-game "soda" to show for it.

I just don't get why people waste their time trying to influence the actions of others.

[lionspride]

Jun 24, 2008 13:16:03 GMT -5 alert2 said:

Jun 24, 2008 11:29:57 GMT -5 lionspride said:

Anything to make Gersten more classy and get the fans involved, I am all for oldestlion.

Better halftime entertainment would be nice. It usually is just awkward silence and watching a herd of people run for hotdogs. This is LA, we should be able to find some cheap entertainment to put on the floor somewhere!!

Who is in charge of half-time bookings within the LMU Athletics Department?

[oldestlion]

"Waste their time trying to influence the actions of others"? Wow, Tex, my guess is that you would tell everyone to butt out if they tried to stop you from driving after imbibing too much at a pre-game party, if you follow your own logic.

Oh, and there was Christ. Why didn't He just keep his mouth shut? But, what does that have to do with fan actions at LMU basketball games?

You miss the point - there is no suggestion that YOU have to do anything. All YOU have to do is allow others to have a choice.

[oldestlion]

We don't have to be original, lionboy. The main thing is to make a distracting amount of noise when the opposition has the ball. We're a Zen type of city, so we can even adopt a uniform Zen-like
sound when the opposition has the ball and lure them to sleep. That might even work for some of our unfriendly neighbors.

We also need to coordinate deafening cheering with tunes played by the pep band so we can take advantage of music that allows LMU to be inserted at the right point.