The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Jim Saksa | Getting off the high horse

When I first thought of transferring to Penn from Villanova, one of the reasons was Villanova's insane inferiority complex.

Villanovans were obsessed with Georgetown and Boston College: the suburban Catholic schools they didn't get into.

We acted out our jealousy by intensely mocking the kids from St. Joe's for going to a safety school.

Penn was going to be different, I thought. All students there must surely feel confident and secure in their achievements at Penn!

False.

Penn has the worst inferiority complex of any school I've ever known. It's as if everyone here has a smarter, more athletic, better-looking older brother that Mom and Dad say they love equally, but we all know that's a lie. The University not only allows this unhealthy obsession to continue, but it also encourages it to flourish.

Entirely too many decisions at this school are made only with the hope of polishing our lustrous reputation and bolstering our academic egos.

We are in college, damn it; we should act like it sometimes.

The latest substantiation of our fixation for brand improvement came last week with Penn Band's announcement that, at the request of the Athletic Department, they would no longer play "Rock & Roll Part 2", aka the "Hey song," at the end of victorious basketball games.

According to associate director of athletics Mary DiStanislao, the song is disrespectful. She told the DP last week that the song "doesn't cast Penn in a good light."

Of course it's disrespectful! It should be! We should be more disrespectful to opposing teams, not less. The level of vitriol a team's fans show is a hallmark of a great program. The best fans in the nation are always the worst.

Take Duke for example. Duke is just as prestigious as dear old Pennsylvania. Their students go on to become tony lawyers and respected doctors just as often as we do.

But their fans are vicious. They go more nuts for in-bound passes than we do for 20-point victories.

Opposing teams fear playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium. No one fears playing at the Palestra; the ride through West Philly might get a bit dicey, but the stadium itself is pretty tame.

Other schools are equally intense. At 'Nova we fought for the right to scream at complete strangers who just so happened to play ball for another school. We told Delonte West, who has an unfortunate birthmark on his face, to buy some Valtrex. Like any other school, we offered a send-off to fouled-out players by singing a lovely rendition of that Steam classic "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye."

The entire experience was awesome. Rambunctious sports viewing is at its best a Dionysian ecstasy.

Thousands of students unifying their spirits into one grand meta-will, all yearning with feverish vigor for victory, represents one of the more awe-inspiring events of your university days.

Penn is in the eye of a hurricane, the calm place of dull decorum and respect surrounded by the worst - and therefore best - fans in the nation. Heckling is a time honored Philadelphia tradition.

We're the city that cheered Michael Irving's career-ending injury. We threw snowballs at Santa. Philly has the best fans, but Penn isn't having any of it.

Unfortunately, Penn's preposterously proper spectators aren't the only example of our students taking themselves too seriously.

Even when Penn students relax, we can't help but to exhort our self-proclaimed superiority with "Not Penn State" T-shirts. Obviously. Penn State can fill their football stadium, and the student body doesn't feel the need to convince everyone they meet of its impressive intelligence.

I'll admit that I'm a pretentious prick. Penn didn't do that to me, I've always been a pretentious prick - emphasis on the prick part. I refuse to let Penn turn me into a prim-and-proper etiquette automaton. I pledge to curse and catcall at every Quaker game and hope you will join me in the revelry.

The real world lurks just beyond our ivy walls, but there's no reason to rush into its iron-fisted embrace just yet. Goof off, play Frisbee, heckle another school, drink a keg to celebrate a snowfall - let's act like we're still in college.

Jim Saksa is a College senior from Toms River, N.J. His e-mail address is saksa@dailypennsylvanian.com. You Sir, are an Idiot appears on Mondays.

Comments (12)

Even when Penn students relax, we can't help but to exhort our self-proclaimed superiority with Not Penn State" T-shirts. Obviously. Penn State can fill their football stadium, and the student body doesn't feel the need to convince everyone they meet of its impressive intelligence." I've been trying to come up with those words for 4 years. Excellently said and 100% accurate.

Funny how not being able to say one word takes all of the fun out of cheering. The problem with fairweather fans and this author is the fact that they don't truly know what they are watching or cheering about. Sorry you can't yell "suck" at a basketball game. I guess everyone should pack up and go home since there is nothing else to say. To say that you enjoyed mocking an athlete from another program because of a spot on his face is even more pathetic. It's almost like you are going to these games as an opportunity to make fun of others in the hopes of potentially feeling better about yourself. I would guess that you have actually never attended a game at Duke. The students that make Duke a difficult place to play in do so because they go crazy for great team defense, appreciate ball movement and a well executed offense and actually pay attention to all aspects of the game. They don't chant vulgarities and they cheer from the opening tip to the end of the game. Penn students need to learn alot more about sports in general and learn that cheering involves alot more than just yelling crass remarks at the other team. When doing so you come across as ignorant both from an athletic standpoint and as an individual.

Oh, the irony... http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory;_id=16c1a2f6-a73b-4d4f-b50a-3dc9e53bb4eb

Saksa, you are quickly becoming my hero. I tried to be like you when I was at Swarthmore, but I lacked the follow-through. Keep it up.

There's a distinction between mocking an opponent during a game (high spirits) and making fun of them after the game has ended (meanness).

Its Michael Irvin, not Irving. A real sports fan would know that.

you're probably indian, and you probably have never been to a game at the Palestra, LET ALONE a game at Cameron Indoor. Who the fuck are you to say what it's like there? You're a stupid twat. [QUOTE id="94cd1133-9783-475f-a33e-0a8f8121195d"]Funny how not being able to say one word takes all of the fun out of cheering. The problem with fairweather fans and this author is the fact that they don't truly know what they are watching or cheering about. Sorry you can't yell "suck" at a basketball game. I guess everyone should pack up and go home since there is nothing else to say. To say that you enjoyed mocking an athlete from another program because of a spot on his face is even more pathetic. It's almost like you are going to these games as an opportunity to make fun of others in the hopes of potentially feeling better about yourself. I would guess that you have actually never attended a game at Duke. The students that make Duke a difficult place to play in do so because they go crazy for great team defense, appreciate ball movement and a well executed offense and actually pay attention to all aspects of the game. They don't chant vulgarities and they cheer from the opening tip to the end of the game. Penn students need to learn alot more about sports in general and learn that cheering involves alot more than just yelling crass remarks at the other team. When doing so you come across as ignorant both from an athletic standpoint and as an individual.[/QUOTE]

Saksa, I'm coming to your next rugby game and heckling you. Wait, I'll be playing alongside you, still heckling though. Barzin

Well said Saksa. My sole regret is based on a previous article you wrote, that the Ivy League athletic program isn't going the way of a Stanford or Duke. There are certain programs at Penn that are successful (wrestling, squash, women's lacrosse), but are inaccessible to a national audience, except getting our asses handed to us during a North Carolina basketball game on ESPN or getting blown out in the round of 64 during March Madness. That shouldn't be the case year in and year out. Penn should seriously consider taking the Athletics department to the next level. For fuck's sake, the Heisman Trophy was named after our old football coach.

How dare you lower us down to the level of a college? We're a world class university churning out businessmen and lawyers and doctors who are superior to 99% of all other beings on earth. We must set a good example and lord our erudition and sense of public justice over our students by informing them that the word "suck" is too foul and vulgar to leave our powdered, aristocratic mouths. You sir, are not only an idiot, but need to attend several sensitivity and arrogance building programs held by organizations whose names are acronyms and represent groups in America they have nothing in common with because of their absolute lack of touch with the common man. Oh, the effrontery!

I loved the Palestra and the atmosphere there... but the "You Suck" chant was probably one of the more pathetic sites I witnessed in college (this coming from a Penn alum and a hoops fan). Seeing all the smug Penn kids so pleased with themselves singing such a childish song, it frankly made me want to yak all over the bleachers. And "A Reader" is right... you don't kick a team when it's down, that's simply classless.

Nice article. Allow me to summarize: WAH!! WAH!! WE WANT TO SHOUT "YOU SUCK" AND YOU CAN'T STOP US! WAH!! WAH!! High horse, indeed...

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