The rivalry between The University of Arizona and Arizona State University is no secret. The rivalry exists solely because U of A and ASU or the two major universities in Arizona. Every year, the two teams play each other around Thanksgiving for the Territorial Cup and bragging rights. The weekend before Thanksgiving the football game was held in Tempe. Thousands of UA students flocked to Tempe to either support their team or party in a new setting. Posters are plastered around campus that says, “Respect the Rivalry” promoting sportsmanship, but that was the last thing on everyone’s mind last Saturday.
On the rare occasion that a Sun Devil travels to Tucson, he or she will make it a point to tell anyone and everyone, “the school’s alright, but I wouldn’t want to go to school in Mexico.” A significant majority of UA’s student population is from Phoenix, where ASU is located. Trips home are usually punctuated by friendly banter with ASU students. U of A students and alumni usually remark on the fact that ASU is “too big” or “doesn’t feel like a college.” Of course supporters of each school compare sports statistics and claim that their respective teams are better and going to win. But what happens when the rivalry goes beyond sports and friendly banter?
Before the game, the smack talking was unwarranted, but bearable. One of the highlights was walking down a busy street with a group of students wearing UA colors. ASU supporters hollered muffled phrases in support of their team, nothing too bad. One person even laid down on the horn and screamed a drawn out “f*** youuuuuu!” That one seems kind of personal and has nothing to do with either team’s athletic or academic abilities. Unless a UA student was with a friend from ASU, they were guaranteed to have some sort of obscenity thrown in their direction.
Once the Sun Devil’s lost, things went from bad to worse. Most fans projected their anger on Wildcats for their loss, as if each person wearing blue and red was personally responsible. A girl wearing high waisted pants was made fun of for having “mom jeans.” Another girl urged her boyfriend to “yell something mean” at a group of UA girls. Someone else took over and yelled, “s****!” and “w*****!” Wildcats certainly egged it on, but some ASU supporters took it to the next level. There was little to no respect present on that Saturday, it was embarrassing for both sides.
Shouting obscenities at girls is crossing the line. Go ahead, hate each other, but have justifiable basis for your anger. It is not fun or funny for anyone when personal comments are considered fair game for friendly banter.