After the Dec. 2 basketball and hockey games went haywire with fan misbehaviors, Facebook and Twitter exploded with commentary about student, administrator and police behavior, as well as with rumors and predictions regarding rules governing student behaviors and administrative procedure at future games.
Social media posts ranged from a condemnation of student behavior and a request that fans moderate their behavior in favor of actually supporting teams, to a criticism of administration and police for interference in student activity.
Senior Alexandra Sobisch tweeted about the hockey game. In an interview, she said, “The thing about Shaker is they give their students a lot of freedom, and that freedom was taken away, whether it’s at a hockey game or any other sporting event. . . That freedom is such an important part of our school.”
Junior Jacob Shick, who is co-captain of the hockey team, said, “When it gets to the point where fan actions are affecting our team, it becomes a problem.”
Sophomore Arman Gerami tweeted, “6:45 hockey game? Sweet, there’s still at least 3 hours for the fans to drink #YouLooseAdministration.”
In an interview, Gerami said, “I was thinking it doesn’t affect anything, so I would tweet about it – it doesn’t really matter if [the game] is at 6:45 or 9.”
A version of this article appeared in print on 14 December 2011, on pages 4 and 5 of The Shakerite.