Apparently, moments after the victory, the Student Section at Saint Xavier began to chant "We've Got Jesus." Upon hearing this cheer, Colerain's coach Tom Bolden apparently went ballistic and he began shouting at the students. Asked after the game, a simmering Bolden is quoted, "They ought to be embarrassed."
In response, one of the Saint Xavier students had this to say:
"The sad reality of this situation is that our entire faculty has absolutely handcuffed us in terms of what we are and aren't allowed to chant because they are so worried about our public relations, and the chants that our student section chant are nothing compared to what the teams we play are able to stay us. How about you report on the constant anti-gay chants we have to deal with week in and week out?"You can read for yourself accounts of the story here, here, and here.
As the moderator of U of D Jesuit's Student Senate, it's one of my jobs to be in the rotation to moderate our student body's cheering section. It is absolutely true that co-ed schools will chant "We've Got Girls" and "You are Gay." Heck, I've heard other local (purportedly) Catholic schools chant "You are Gay" at sporting events. Now while I have no trouble coming up with eviscerating comeback cheers in response, I am not allowed to give them to the students. Alas.
I am, consequently, sympathetic to the views expressed by the Saint X student. We do expect a degree of cleverness and decorum from our students and we are concerned with the way they present themselves to the wider public. I have, on numerous occasions, quashed cheers that they students think are "awesome" because they were unclever or offensive. Thus, I totally get the kids' frustration at feeling as though their hands are tied when it comes to cheering.
Now, on a theological level, the cheer is absolute balderdash if we believe in Jesus (He came so that all, or in the forthcoming translation of the Mass, so that many) might be saved. I tend to err on the side of God's graciousness, so I'm pretty comfortable with saying that Jesus is no one's possession. Then again, it's a Catholic school playing against a public school. On a certain level, Saint X does have Jesus: they can post a picture of the Sacred Heart and not be fired for it, whereas to do that in a public school might well lead to a suspension if not a firing!
3 comments:
Asking more out of curiosity than anything, but can it be confirmed one way or another that the "We've got Jesus" chant was begun in response to a "We've got girls" chant from Colerain? The articles tend to make out like X was on the offensive here, yet usually that kind of chant is done on the "defensive," so to speak, after a provocative chant from the opponent. Not that this legitimizes the questionable response, but it does put things in better perspective.
I would suspect they'd been cheering "We have girls" throughout the game. I would love to know, like you, what really transpired.
This week, Saint X guys showed up at the football game with delicious, cheddar flavored crackers. Their chant, consequently, was, "We've got Cheez-its." I love the cleverness.
This is a tough one because anyone must have freedom to cheer what they want but then again, this may also mean quite differently when against a public school. The other side might find it offensive somehow because, everyone of us do have Jesus on our side.
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