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One of the most interesting comments surrounding the Duke Lacrosse case was made by Duke Chaplain, Sam Wells. Chaplain Wells stated, “The law of our campus is seldom explicitly articulated, because it is assumed that everybody knows it. But recent events suggest that there may be a good reason to break silence and state it simply.”

It occurred to the administrators of National Sportsmanship Day that the statement by Chaplain Wells has application to crowd behavior. Crowd behavior is clearly one of the most abused aspects of sports. Dan Doyle’s volume II of The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting (to be published in 2009) will contain a full chapter on crowd behavior, making very clear what Mr. Doyle feels is and is not over the line.

At this stage, the Institute would like to elicit your views on this important issue. Here are three examples of crowd behavior that we consider to be clearly – and obviously – over the line:

• Reference made to the race of an athlete, coach or referee.



• Reference made to the physical characteristics an athlete, coach or referee.



• The use of profanity directed at athletes, coaches or referees.

We would be grateful to hear from you regarding your thoughts on what is and is not over the line. If you have specific suggestions, please e-mail them to Chris Shea, NSD Coordinator, at cshea@internationalsport.com. When you make your recommendation, kindly make clear if your recommendation should be restricted to a certain age level only- or should apply to all age levels. You may feel that crowd behavior considered to be unacceptable at a youth league game, would be considered acceptable at a high school or college game. Please specify!

On March 4 (our National Sportsmanship Day) we will publish on this website a list of behaviors that we feel are acceptable; and a list of behaviors that we feel are clearly unacceptable. Your input will be greatly appreciated!