I'm sure Chugger, while liking the fan support wouldn't even like the USA chanting that was going on and what it represents . . Unfortunately he isn't going to be able to educate or eradicate that element from their fan base. . . Here is hoping that he gets a influential foreign player and maybe they'll realize themselves how idiotic that chant is/was. . . We also have to keep in mind - these are new fans for the hokies. They previously didn't even know that their was a version of football that was round and not oval in shape. They haven't been good and this year Chugger/team has really gotten it together. So lets hope and I imagine their fans will learn more about and get better at being fans of this sport.
The funny thing about all this is that the year that Virginia tech men made the college cup, they were full of foreign players and the coach ultimately was fired for helping them come to the us in ways that was against ncaa rules. The athletic director made a statement saying they would seek to recruit usa players. Look it up. So, I don't know if it is ironic that Virginia tech has this history or if the behavior could even be because of this history. I think it is more likely that these were just idiots being idiots who were completely oblivious to any of this background. Every school has fans who are idiots. You might think I am an idiot. Now this might have been an organization of coordinated idiots, but I still don't think it is a reflection on the school. The background about the va tech men's team makes it a bit more interesting, for me anyways.
It also could be a poor attempt at humor. I heard another one recently elsewhere that had mature fans cringing.
Here is an article about foreign players at Virginia tech on the men's soccer team http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stor...ctions-for-team-started-fair-became-excessive This coach seemed to make a good faith mistake ,so I don't post this to criticize his actions. He actually lived across the street from me in chapel hill for about a year after leaving Virginia tech . He was a really nice person. The point is that Virginia tech acting this way towards foreign players has some history to it, even it the people making the chants are unaware.
I really wanted to stay out of this conversation due to the fact I find the VT fans completely vile, both the fans making disgusting taunts and the fans/school officials sitting around them allowing them to continue. The remarks that are made by these fans are NOT just aimed at foreign students but to any player within their ear shot. During the game in Virginia they were relentless in making remarks about having pancakes and syrup (Aunt Jemima) to the FSU African American player (Jamia), and even went so far as to attack and ridicule the FSU player who has a partial arm! It was disgusting. They were also relentless when the sides switched and they had new targets on their side, one being the Irish player among others. A FSU fan went down to ask them to clean up their heckling and was the recipient of unbelievable remarks. No one on the VT side made a move to stop these kids so I fault them as well. There is heckling/taunts in fun in sports, but this was beyond disgusting and VT fans should be embarrassed.
It's one thing to blow something that happened in the NCAA tournament out of proportion, but this is not the thread for making up accusations about a fanbase.
I will attest that some of what was said above definitely happened/ Whether this is the appropriate place to discuss it is left to others. I didn't hear the Aunt Jemima chants as I was on the far side, but did hear the comments about the one arm, and the USA chants against the Icelandic and Irish girl. These chants/cheers were led by the adults and not the kids (though the young kids would later join in since they don't know any better) - because I heard a little girl behind me ask her mom why they were chanting USA instead of "Go Hokies" and her answer was because "they aren't american like us" (really??). If their was aunt jemima chants, I would have even gotten up and said something because there really is no place in soccer for racism (but it does happen - especially in eastern europe). As I said above, I'm willing to give them a pass since they are "new" to soccer, but lets not try and argue that these didn't happen last weekend. You didn't hear USA(or one arm or Jemima) chants from UCLA when they were playing FSU and you didn't hear anything nasty chants from FSU against the hokies (or UCLA). So lets hope the fan base grows there in blacksburg but gets a bit more educated in the process.
Ucla fans were very classy from what I saw and heard. when they played fsu. I guess winning 110 national championships gives your fanbase some experience acting right at top level events. This is awful about Virginia tech. I do hope the ncaa investigates, though as food for thought, is the standard different in women's sports. It is never never ok to say these things in any context, but it seems like the threshold for being considered offensive is much higher for college football and men's college basketball.