It should have been a win celebrated by Oregon fans everywhere, including alumni, and former players.
A win where No. 25 Oregon steamrolled No. 12 BYU 41-20.
It was certainly the Ducks best performance of this early 2022 season.
But it won’t be the performance on the field that will be remembered.
It will be the disgusting and offensive chants that emanated from the Oregon student section and fans in that area of Autzen Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
On this Sunday morning, a day of God’s word, a cloud of embarrassment and disgust has covered a university that has always prided itself on being above the fray of outrageous fan bases.
BYU, a deeply religious university based on the teachings of Brigham Young that began in 1875 and is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ( a Mormon faith ) was unabashedly ridiculed for their religion.
Not only brazenly ridiculed but offensively shamed for being who they are and what they believe.
“F**k the Mormons” was shouted over and over again from the student area of Autzen Stadium.
Not only was it repugnant, but it also came extremely close to being ‘hate speech.’
You could argue it was.
The backlash was swift and severe from the State of Utah.
Governor Spencer Cox tweeted; “Religious bigotry alive and celebrated in Oregon.”
Kris Winter, Interim Vice-President for the Division of Student Life at the University of Oregon released an immediate statement Sunday morning saying;
“The university apologizes for the despicable chants made by some University of Oregon fans at today’s football game with Brigham Young University,”
“There is no place for hate, bias, or bigotry at the University of Oregon. These actions are simply unacceptable. We will investigate, and we call on our students and campus community to refuse to accept or tolerate this type of behavior.”
On the University of Oregon twitter feed, they released this;
“The University of Oregon sincerely apologizes for an offensive and disgraceful chant coming from the student section during yesterday’s game against Brigham Young University. These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition. We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias or bigotry.”
In a time where we as a country seem to be more and more divided, it’s been sports that have been the lone bastion of normalcy where feelings of political and religious hatred were left at the turnstiles.
Not on Saturday.
It seeped into a game where it had no place to be.
It was chanted by students of a university who are being taught to be our leaders of tomorrow. Where moral character is supposed to be molded and their ideas are supposed to change the world, not lay waste to it.
This single action will have deep and unforgiving consequences for years to come.
And rightly so!
Will BYU ever accept an invitation to play another sport in Eugene?
Not just football, but any sport?
They absolutely shouldn’t. They should never return to Eugene ever again.
This was indeed a line that was not only crossed by fans but a line that should only be described as hate speech.
There’s no place in sports, let alone normal society for something so vile.
And let’s not forget who showed the real class on Saturday.
It was BYU.
Their football program not only laid flowers on the 4-yard line before the game to share their respect for Oregon TE Spence Webb, but former Oregon player and now BYU offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia carried an Oregon flag onto the field to pay tribute to Webb who tragically lost his life this summer in a hiking accident.
We all should take a page from this kind of humanism and class.
Yes, it was an incredible win by the now No. 15 ranked Oregon Ducks.
But what ended as a glorious day for that win, has now been tainted as a day of revulsion.
And we all should be ashamed of that!