Normally, being part of a video crew has its ups and downs. For instance, we don’t have the luxury of actually WATCHING the game…that’s a bummer. We do, however, get closer looks at some of the action or the behind-the-scenes inner workings at a lot of events. That was the case today at the University of Mary game at the Community Bowl. I was part of the on-site crew, not the KXMB broadcast team.

We had a good crew put together and enjoyed a pretty close game. There were some calls that one team or another didn’t agree with, but overall it looked and sounded like a good clean football game. That is, of course, unless you were in the press box next to the guys from Concordia University of St. Paul.

With only a cubicle divider between those of us switching the jumbo video screen and the guys coordinating on headseats for Concordia, there was only a little divider wall. These guys were AWFUL. I heard them shouting words like:

– the F-word, in various configurations;
– the MF-word, including as a reference to the U-Mary Marauders;
– the S word, as if it was part of normal conversation;
– the A word, including the AH word as a reference to the Marauders;
– the name “Jesus Christ” used as a profanity (read the commandments)
– the GD word several times

In addition, I heard pounding on the tabletop…heck, we all did. The press box is a tight area. And in that area are microphones for the stadium announcer, KFYR/KFAN radio, and various two-way radio mics. I bet if someone listened to the radio closely or sat near one of the Community Bowl’s loudspeakers, you probably heard these guys in the background.

I looked around in the press box after one particularly loud, foul outburst, and people were all looking at each other in a combination of confusion and shock. The press box area was full of people wearing U-Mary apparel… I never heard any of them say words like the Concordia dudes, even after a couple of debatable calls that didn’t go their way. I think they were too embarassed for the CU guys to even say anything!

I wanted to peek around the cubicle and explain to them that they were being offensive, supposedly representing a Christian university, and at a game hosted by a Catholic school. But, alas…I was being paid to be there as a video crew member, not a representative of the University of Mary. I felt justified in speaking up just as a human being and a Christian, but I didn’t want any comments I made to be misconstrued as being on behalf of U-Mary. So I bit my lip. Thankfully the next home game will NOT be against Concordia University!

So, there you have it. In the end the Marauders lost, and it was probably just a normal football game to anyone in the stands or watching at home. Some of us in the booth, however, didn’t get paid enough to have to sit and listen to three and half hours of that nonsense. Hopefully future guest teams will have a lot better manners than the Concordia St-Paul Bears.