"The Perfect Storm" revision
Eyes widen, mouths drop and the buzzer sounds. St. Mary’s University students mourn the loss of the last Heartland Conference basketball game of the season.
Just moments after The University of Incarnate Word won the game in the final seconds of the game, the player who made winning shot, Kelcey Solomon, jumped up on to the stats table and then proceeded to yell out profane words to the students of St. Mary’s University.
For as long as any student can remember there has always been a rivalry between these two local colleges which students have been thriving on. For St. Mary’s University students nothing is bigger than a game against The University of Incarnate Word. From baseball to basketball and everything in between the must see games are the one where STMU plays UIW.
Although there have been a lot of losses, students and faculty say none will be as memorable as the loss again UIW on Saturday March 6, 2010.
Chief of Police, Paul F. Glowacki has been working for St.Mary’s University Police Department since 2001, and said that this is the first time he has seen that level of aggression from the University of Incarnate Word. "This last Heartland Conference game, just have all the makings of a perfect storm."
“Normally we never see a problem with UIW” said Glowaki “ Do we staff for those games? Yes we do. Did we bring in extra? Yes we did, But in all honesty, it’s just two cross town rival teams that play each other and the emotion is high.”
According to NCAA regulations, the “competition is conducted in a non-discriminatory manner that engourages enthusiastic support within the confines of good sportsmanship and fosters a positive attitude among spectators and participants in support of their teams.” This means that NCAA games have regulations on conduct that are deemed appropriate.
Although there are conduct rules in any and all NCAA games, the league only penalizes for players who are ejected. Therefore it is up to the coaches to discipline the players after the final buzzer has sounded.
The Minnesota State University-Mankato, Athletics Director Kevin Buisman, developed a slogan to help fans remember the importance of respect, which he believe will help reduce the level of aggression that is found at the home games, and he hopes that by taking these actions everyone will be in a safe environment.
The universities slogan is “Help us Promote a Positive Game Environment and Don’t Cross the Line.” The university also painted a yellow line next to the side lines of the courts with the same solgan. This policy was adopted in April of 2010.
Former student and now admissions councilor for STMU, Christopher Cantu says that back in undergrad he has never experienced extreme levels of aggression from the University of Incarnate Word. Cantu worked for the basketball team as the team manager/trainer and says that the coaches at St. Mary’s University never tolerate un-sportsmanlike conduct from their players.
Cantu also says that “UPD did a great job at keeping the crowds under control at each game we played UIW, and especially at basketball games where they would escort them in and out of the basketball games to prevent incident from happing.”
The loss of the last Heartland Conference basketball game unexpected event will forever be an unfriendly memory to the STMU students, not only because it was a loss to UIW, but also because it was the worst way for UIW players to show sportsmen like conduct in the last game that they will ever play STMU in.
Former number one, America tennis player, Jim Courier once said “Sportsmanship for me is when a guy walks off the court and you can’t tell whether he has won or lost, when he carries himself with pride either way”
http://diicommunity.org/gameEnvironment/ideaDetail.aspx?intActID=1160
Video clip provided by Darlene Diaz
