Student behavior humiliates RBHS

RBHS faced crosstown rival Hickman High School in football on Friday for the second time this year. During district play the Bruins traveled north on Providence Road to face the Kewpies on their turf, in hopes of proving themselves superior after a heartbreaking loss at the Providence Bowl.
The BruCrew, hundreds of fans and parents from both schools showed up at HHS as early as three hours before the game to ensure their seats and support their team at this thrilling rematch.
But this game, resulting in a win for the Kewpies, marked not only a loss for the football team, but also a loss in dignity for RBHS students. The truly shameful Bruin behavior outweighed the actual loss of the game when our cheering fans turned into a mob, displaying poor sportsmanship and downright cruelty.
About 20 minutes before kick-off, RBHS students were completely united, metaphorically and physically, as the old stands on the visitor side of the HHS field were swaying like waves at the slightest movements. Cheering and clapping accompanied RBHS football players as they stormed onto the field; this game environment replicated that of any game.
But as the HHS players made their run through their huge purple helmet, the profane attitude of RBHS fans began to show. Booing and stomping, though seemingly normal for a rival football game, soon turned into middle fingers and spitting.
The dazzling lights and the cold of the night only seemed to spark a larger reaction from both schools’ fans until half-time began when the HHS dance team took the field. The girls began their performance just as the Bruin Girls do at RBHS home games. The difference in this event, however, was not the dance routines. It was crowd reactions and the utterly shameful behavior which RBHS fans displayed that set this moment apart. BruCrew members instructed Bruin fans to turn their backs on the dancers to show disrespect.
As if these early moments weren’t rude enough, students  shoved their middle fingers into the air, and a blatantly vulgar mob chant began: “RATC—!” “RATC—!” The crowd screeched politically incorrect terms and hurled derogatory slang at the Hickman cheerleading squad as well. Not only did fans shout vulgarisms at the girls at large, but they also gathered people in a loud chant in an effort to verbally eviscerate a particular member of the squad.

From this point on, any normally playful football fan banter crescendoed, becoming increasingly more profane and ultimately even more repugnant. After RBHS scored the first touchdown of the night in the opening drive of the fourth quarter, fans yelled and threw fists in the air, full of pride for their team.
During the fourth quarter, however, when the Kewpies scored a TD, which would tie the game and send it into overtime, a male RBHS student urinated on the Hickman stands. Though shocked and confused, no Bruin fan openly condemned his shameful depravity.
But this wasn’t even the end of the Bruin’s boorish behavior.
As the buzzer for the beginning of overtime sounded with fans from both sides on their feet, the HHS cheerleaders took the field. Another “ratc—” chant sounded from our bleachers, and a crude “Twerk it b—-!” echoed through the crowd. Backs turned once again, and RBHS fans began to break off pieces of the old Hickman bleachers, passing them around the crowd.
We tore apart and destroyed bleacher railings and paraded them through the stands. We beat on trashcans in a primordial rhythm to accompany our roar.
Once the game ended in a 10-7 defeat, RBHS fans’ cheering turned into crude screaming. The words turned into profane nonsense, and the chanting turned into downright savagery.
According to the Missouri State High School Activity Association handbook, the No. 1 objective under Article II is to promote “the value of participation, sportsmanship, team play, and personal excellence to develop citizens who make positive contributions to their community and support the democratic principles of our state and nation.”
RBHS fans did none of the above.
According to the MSHSAA handbook, any student or fan who takes part in misconduct can result in punishment ranging from a warning to appearing before the board of education. Said offenders would then have the possibility of being prohibited from attending future games, and violent acts may result in charges against an individual under Missouri law.
No Hickman officials at the game filed charges as of Monday; nonetheless, fans and supporters of RBHS should be ashamed and humiliated, not for our dignified loss as a team but for our distasteful and obscene attitude and misconduct as a school.
If RBHS students cannot control themselves in rivalry games, we should be banned from any future Hickman-Rock Bridge competition.
By Hagar Gov-Ari
This opinion piece is labeled as such on the desktop version.
Were you at the game? How did you react to the fans?