As the president of Stags in the Stands, both students and administrators about the raucous crowd have approached me about the MAAC tournament. Everyone agrees that the atmosphere and energy generated by the crowd were amazing and truly represents what college sports are about. It must be stated that in no way are cheers with profanity a viable option for students.
In this regard and many others I agree with Glenn Ghirardi and his article “Loyola Brings Out the Rage in the Red Sea.” He rightfully acknowledges that not all students partook in the profanity that stole the show from what was an amazing atmosphere.
Although Hutch Williams is not mentioned in the article, the picture and caption lead a reader to think that Hutch was a catalyst of the profane cheers, and this cannot be further from the truth.
Pictures are said to be worth a thousand words, but this one only caught a brief mistake and not the entire picture. Hutch should not have let his emotions get the better of him with the gesture he made in the photo, but people make mistakes and he was very apologetic afterwards for his action.
He and I both did not add our voices to the others that rained down vulgarities, and we both attempted to tell those around us to stay classy. Yes, Hutch gets loud and tries to instill a sense of school spirit in those around him, but ask any coach or player at this University if they have seen or heard Hutch leading cheers that they think are not fitting of a collegiate atmosphere.
The man coined the phrase “stag-positive” for a reason, and in no way should he receive any blame for the negative actions of a group of students.
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