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Restore loyalty to Gonzaga

Letter to the Editor

Published: Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 17:09

A year ago, I wrote this great student newspaper calling for a change in the way a Gonzaga basketball fan should act. I feel once again I have fallen upon deaf ears.

In the upcoming months one of the greatest seasons begins. No, I am not talking about the reruns of the sixth season of "Murder She Wrote." I am talking about the Gonzaga basketball season. A new year brings fresh, new faces to the McCarthey Athletic Center. I am talking about the young adults who have decided to attend the institution God would have sent Jesus to if he were alive during this time. Freshmen, you may be asking yourselves what comes along with attending one of if not the greatest institution in the country.

First and foremost, attending Gonzaga University means you are pledging your heart and souls to the finest basketball program in America. While many before you have failed at showing loyalty and pride in their school's team, The Gonzaga Nation looks to you to pick up the pieces left by traitors and cowards and broken institutions such as GSBA and Kennel Club. Both these organizations will preach from their ivory towers that they are the standard for true Gonzaga basketball fans, but I am here to tell you differently.

True Gonzaga fans saw through their empty words and smoke and mirror routines. I turn your attention to Genesis 11:1-9 and the story of the Tower of Babel to see what the Kennel Club and GSBA have been doing for the past 15 years. They act as though they are building a stairway to heaven (Gonzaga basketball) when in reality it is a monument to themselves. Their greed for power knows no bounds. They call themselves true Gonzaga fans but as we all know we must live through our actions not our words. True Gonzaga fans would not create a corrupt seating system just so they can be on FSN Northwest. True Gonzaga fans would not sell T-shirts at ridiculous prices and look down on those not wearing them. No, true Gonzaga fans are the students like you and me, who have no desire for TV face time or saving seats for some girl you think is cute.

We show up for games for only one reason: to see the Gonzaga basketball team paint their masterpiece on the court. We wait out in the freezing cold for 12th row seats because for us it's not about where we are sitting but what sitting inside the McCarthey Athletic Center represents. For true Gonzaga basketball fans it represents an ideal, an ideal that its not just about cheering loud and making up dumb chants like those corrupt representatives would have you believe. It's about a movement, a movement that preaches winning, selflessness and above all else, loyalty. Not just loyalty to our beloved team but to all fellow Gonzaga fans. So freshmen, I invite you all to join me on the eve of Midnight Madness to take back our team. I will be holding a "restoring loyalty" rally outside the McCarthey Athletic Center to bring attention to these injustices that have gone on long enough.

Freshmen, you are the ones that can finally restore loyalty to this campus. I look to you to open your eyes, hear my rallying call and like God did to those in Babel, break up these archaic organizations, disband their corrupt ways and usher in a new era, the era of true Gonzaga fans. Rally to me! Rally to me because GSBA's chickens are coming home to roost!

 

John Reid is a member of the class of 2009

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3 comments

a bunch of grads
Wed Oct 13 2010 07:11
Is this guy for real? This is such a crock of sh*t and way beyond disrespectful. Gonzaga is a loving community where it is completely ok to be who you are and do what makes you happy. The camaraderie amongst the students can still be seen at basketball games as we chant and cheer our classmates on the court. Freshman...don't listen to this guy. Take it from some alumni who are all sitting around a computer right now...Gonzaga loves you, and you can love it back whether you're part of GSBA, Knights and Setons, AKPsi, or HPIC...and if you want tv time, good for you, tell your parents hi.
KING MICHAEL SHERMAN
Fri Oct 1 2010 16:16
Prior to this article I have always enjoyed Mr. Reid's assertions about Gonzaga University in general. This goes beyond pretentious into downright treasonous territory. I'd like to let the record speak for itself but then most of you don't know the record, so I will enlighten you. John or Jack as he would have you believe wants you to think he is a Gonzaga fan. Will there be a rally?? No. Why? Is it because he is too busy blacking out pictures of Captains Sean Mallon or David Pendergraft on his poster schedule (he did that freshman and sophomore year)? No. It's because he decided to turn down 3 more years at the "greatest institution in the world" to join our rival-institution Marquette University for 3 years. He'll have you believe that he is some missionary to the mid-west but due to his absence from all Gonzaga Basketball games last year this seems to be nothing more than a smokescreen of lies to get you to wonder what he wants accomplished.
I think our fan-base is one of the most accomplished, proud and loyal fan bases in the country. America's Mid-Major we were called up until Adam Morrison took us to Major status. With this new classification came our true virtue "America's Team"(Neil Everett, Sportscenter LA, 01/22/2010). Why would we need "missionaries"? I am saddened that today we must be saturated with such downright hypocrisy without knowing the truth. Shame on you John...SHAME ON YOU!!
Dennis McShade
Fri Oct 1 2010 13:10
Gonzaga is a place of unity and support. Neither of which you seem to know anything about. A "true" Gonzaga fan would not point to the faults of others but would seek to grow the positive that is obviously already flourishing. Preaching for "restoring loyalty" and "the era of true Gonzaga fans" is a slap in the face to the thousands of students that have sought to support one of Gonzaga's many great accomplishments. I am not surprised at your tactics, everyday we see politicians and the media demand that institutions be brought down. Like them you seem content to make sophisticated sounding comparisons without any thought to the complexities that surround the issues. When you speak of the people that have "greed for power (that) knows no bounds", all I can think about is the constant headaches and fires that these greedy people run around putting out. Dealing with a complex institution like Gonzaga University and controlling an amazingly rambunctious group of students is not a task to be taken lightly. While the current system may be far from perfect it is the one that was created far before those you seek to judge even set foot on campus. I would like to thank all of the people that keep the Kennel Club alive and well, for they may indeed be building towers but have done no more than constructed a solid foundation. So I say to you, go ahead and continue to preach and insult but be wary of the pulpit you put yourself upon. For pride comes before the fall. Lastly to freshman, the only thing that you need to know is that the continued support of your fellow students and their efforts will bring about the necessary change. Loyalty can already be found at GU and you do not have to look any further than the hearts of every student to on campus.






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