You: People are fans, short for fanatical, and pay to see a game played and refed to the capabilities of those participating. In the sporting enviroment certain behaviors not acceptable in ordinary life are appropriate.

Me: The gulf between what is acceptable at a sporting event vs. ordinary life grows wider all the time. What's particularly frightening about that is that the bar for what is acceptable in ordinary life is dropping rapidly.

As members of the church, we should do better. I'm not casting stones here. I was once kicked out of church basketball game for completely losing my cool and yelling at the refs at the top of my lungs (no profanity though . I'm not perfect. I'm just saying we shouldn't say, "Oh well. Boys will be boys." We need to do better. After my ejection experience I vowed never again to get so wrapped up in a sporting event. I hope I can live up to that.

Don't get me wrong, I still get so into it that I can't eat while BYU is playing. I just think if we stop and think not one of us would disagree with the following statement: If we're engaged in an activity that causes us to lose the Spirit, we should either change the way we participate in the activity or stop doing the activity. Something about it being better to cut out our eye than lose salvation.

I'm not trying to pile on tonysly. He sounds like he has the right attitude for future reference. It's just that if more of us stay away from the line rather than taking the boys-will-be-boys approach, less of us will do something regrettable in the heat of the moment.