The Territorial Cup lived up to the expectations that it would be an exciting contest between the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. While the battle on the field was fought honorably, ultimately going in favor of the Sun Devils, Wildcat band members became victims of less than honorable Sun Devil fans.
According to an article on azdesertswarm.com, one band member posted an account of the abuse:
What a sad day. The UofA Wildcats lost to the ASU Sun Devils, we had to wait for our buses to pick us up, and worst of all, an ASU fan slashed my drum head.
For clarification on what happened, we were heading back up to the stands after doing our joint half time show with the ASU band (who was very nice). While we were walking, an ASU fan threw a football and hit my drum, bounced off, and hit a pommie. As soon as this happened, another ASU fan came up to my drum and started hitting slashing at it. While I was using my mallets to push them away, I ended up crashing into our 1st bass and then that’s when everyone noticed that my drum head was split in half. Stay classy ASU fans.
This is not the first incident to occur according to the article’s author, Jason Bartel. He describes several incidents of abuse during his time as a member of the Wildcats band.
As a former Northern Arizona University student I cannot attest to any of these incidents when my school has played either Arizona or Arizona State. Those games are what I would describe as warm-up contests in which the goal isn’t to win. Instead the Wildcats and Sun Devils merely strive to hit a certain point threshold against what they consider to be the red-headed stepchild in the Arizona university family.
What I can say is that the vandals and morons in the article don’t really deserve to have stories written about them. The worst thing about this situation is that the student, who had their bass drum shredded, will more than likely have to pay some – if not all – of the cost to repair the instrument. That is where the focus should be.
People like these ASU fans, who forcefully ripped a piece of University equipment, are the type of people that ruin the image of sports fan. Yes, you don’t have to like someone who wears the opponents’ colors, but that does not give anyone the right to treat them as less-than-human and attack not only them but whatever they carry with them.
The band member was the job he earned. This band member had to have worked hard to get to the point where they could travel with the team. I’m sure that he spent hours rehearsing the halftime performance. Hours that could have gone to studying or other school projects.
It is a shame that these kinds of things are allowed to happen at stadiums all over the world. Not just college, but also in professional leagues too. How many viral videos have we seen of someone being punched in the stands and no one moving to stop it and instead just cheering on the fight like pathetic school children? Moments like those make me wonder if perhaps another prohibition is necessary to prevent some of the classless acts of some sports fans out there. Either way, what occurred in the stands at Tempe is a travesty. Here’s to hoping that someone finds the guilty parties and holds them responsible, and the Wildcat drummer isn’t stuck with the tab.