Guest column: The class system

After the Terrapin men's basketball team's win over Duke on Wednesday night, sports anchor Scott Van Pelt told ESPN 980 he approached Duke guard Jon Scheyer's father in order "to let him know that we're not all savages." This characterization of Terp fans seems to be the most popular one with pundits today. Our inferiority complex, they say, leads Terp fans to act without class. According to many, we ought to act like we expect to win. Do not shout obscenities. Do not storm the court. Do not torch your couch. Show some class.

To the contrary, Terp fans should strive for creativity.

Isn't "class" part of why students so loathe Duke? Year after year, the Blue Devils seem to trot out a squad led primarily by snobby white guys. Their rebounding advantage can be attributed to their noses — it's a natural advantage if you're constantly looking skyward. And while much of the initial fervor over the infamous Duke lacrosse non-incident stemmed from its racial overtones, the case exemplified an attitude toward that university: Let's tear down the privileged. Terp basketball fans choose to do so by going lower and getting dirtier than the opposition, but it doesn't have to be this way.

Admittedly, our vocabulary leaves much to be desired. Students squeezed "F--- Duke" into every silence the arena's music offered. Every time a Duke player received the ball to take a foul shot, the student next to me would shout an extended "F--- yoooou" into the banging of seats. It became personal when chants of "F--- you, Scheyer" soaked the court.

But what are the alternatives? There are only two positive cheers you'll hear in Comcast Center, and they're basically identical: "Let's go, Maryland" in straight quarter notes and "Let's gooo, Maryland" beginning with an eighth note and a dotted quarter. Say what you will about the Cameron Crazies, but they're at least organized. They have cheers specific to individual players, such as a synchronized "shuffle" for former forward Lee Melchionni. They have cheers for situations other than an air ball, such as yelling "Touchdown!" when the Terps run that silly baseline chuck-it-into-the-backcourt inbounds play.

Couldn't we do the same and create a tradition or two? I saw loads of creative signs Wednesday night. The "Greivis Vasquez shimmy," "Hayes Makes Treys" and numerous Scott Van Pelt signs all displayed ingenuity. Why not direct this impulse toward our in-game singing? Creative cheers might arise spontaneously, but they could just as easily come from, say, a panel of students chosen by the Athletics Department. I would love to be part of such a group. You could even make it lucrative with guaranteed seats or a modest stipend or some other swag. Don't give us admonishing e-mails from coach Gary Williams — give us something to do. Give the students some new cheers.

If you want to mess with an opposing player, get him thinking. Show some creativity.

Nathaniel Underland is a graduate student in English. He can be reached at underlan at umd dot edu.