Athletics Director apologizes on behalf of fans

The loss to the University of Oregon on Saturday night was certainly disappointing, but not nearly as disheartening as the atrocious behavior of some people who purport to be our fans.

It is simply unacceptable for University of Arizona supporters to throw objects and behave as disrespectfully as they did on Saturday night. Everyone who cares about Arizona athletics is appalled that an Oregon cheerleader had to be hospitalized after being hit by a water bottle.

We are grateful that the cheerleader, Katelynn Johnson, has been released from the hospital and will be OK. But Arizona fans owe her, the Oregon football team and Oregon fans a huge apology for what happened on Saturday night.

We had a chance to show the country our best, and instead we showed them our worst. On behalf of Arizona Athletics, I can only say how sorry we are for what occurred, and offer my assurance that we will take every step necessary to find the person responsible for throwing the bottle that struck Katelynn, and ensure that this sort of behavior is not repeated at future games.

Jim Livengood

Athletics Director

Daily Wildcat shortchanged Transgender Awareness Week

In the last year, 162 transgender and gender-variant people were murdered. This is almost three times the number of transphobic murders reported in 2008. Given this information, it is disturbing to me that the Daily Wildcat has not paid more careful attention to the UA’s Fourth Annual Transgender Awareness Week. Daily Wildcat, please consider the impact of oversimplified and/or sensational coverage.

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, I was dismayed to see the Daily Wildcat rely on sensationalism over analysis, the easy sexual reference taken out of context over depth. I am a genderqueer, feminist poet and I created a performance piece for this year’s TAW. The photo in Wednesday’s “”Worth Noting”” section was from that piece. However, the photo did more to misconstrue the piece than it did to represent it or the event and I feel, much like Mr. Stephen Mikitish, that this is inappropriate.

The TAW events incorporated song, celebration, spoken word, visual art, shared grieving and performance. As transgender and gender-variant folks, we opened ourselves up to questions, dialogue and criticism. We also asked the broader community to reflect on their (and our) own participation in systemic transphobia, homophobia, racism, and other forms of oppression. My piece, in particular, sought to highlight the many silences imposed by our current expectations of masculinity (including hyper-sexualization) and the triumph over that silence by removing the phallus from my mouth. It is unfortunate, Mr. Mikitish, that you and most of the UA population chose to ignore Trans Awareness Week until this photo was published. It is clear that some important dialogue needs to happen and that is exactly why we had the event. I hope you will make it next year.

It is also unfortunate that the Daily Wildcat chose to attend and then resorted to sensational and irresponsible reporting. If the staff at the Daily Wildcat really want to do justice to any of their material, they will offer exactly what this university is capable of: intelligent reporting that includes analysis of many complex contexts. Perhaps the Daily Wildcat will run a story that documents the voices and experiences of transgender and gender-variant folks — this would be a step in the right direction.

I am unlike most UA students in many ways, but one rarely discussed difference is that I was raised by a single mom in a low-income household. I earned my MFA from UA in 2005. I am paying for (and will be for a very long time!) my own education. And you should know that my mother is my biggest fan.

TC Tolbert

UA Alum, MFA 2005

Boo on the Zona Zoo

I want to say that I’m not hounding on the 90 percent who didn’t run on the field or that I’m some old fart harping about the kids on my lawn. I graduated in 2006. I can still talk to the girls at O’Malley’s without attracting those seeking a father figure or creeper.

The Zona Zoo is awesome. It’s easily the best student section in the country and has helped make UA arguably the second loudest and second toughest place to play in the Pac 10 outside of Autzen Stadium. When it’s full, like on Saturday (and I wish it’d be like that for every game and no one left early … ) the place is electric, loud, passionate and energetic. But now it’s time to insert some perspective and reality.

Those that jumped over the fence trying to rush the field were a sham. The fact that they felt it was necessary is a shame.

I started my time at UA in 2002. I endured the team mutiny and watched 1.5 seasons of the John Mackovic era. After his firing, we got to experience an upset of Washington ending a long Pac-10 drought, and so began the first field rush.

The next season Mike Stoops was hired, the Zona Zoo took off, and rushing the field became a trend but shouldn’t become a tradition.

The field rush needs to stop. The UA is no longer the doormat that endured 10 years of losing. It is now a program that is playing in two straight bowls, on national television, and with a shot at the Rose Bowl.

Unless they beat the No. 1 team in country or clinch a Rose Bowl berth, there is no need to rush the field.

What were you celebrating on the field? Knowing we’re now two games from a Rose Bowl? Beating Oregon for the third time in four years?

Unfortunately, the selfishness of the few students that started to celebrate early (something tells me they won’t rush the court with 1:32 left and a one possession game in basketball when Washington comes to town) embarrassed themselves on more than one level of a tying the game.

Again 90 percent were great and kudos to those that chanted, “”Get Off the Field.””

Now stay off.

Class of 2006

Arizona fans get an ‘F’ for class

I am as most of you are, very frustrated with the outcome of Saturday’s game. We had every opportunity to win, and we lost when it was all but ours. When looking at what happened (Saturday) night, I asked myself, “”Why did we lose?”” And yes, I agree, as with most of you there were some seriously questionable coaching calls, and something downright absurd with the way the clock was handled. But the largest problems that stuck out in my mind were the curses from our fans to our own players and the premature storming of the field. You who did that degraded our team, and you ruined the prestige of being a Wildcat fan.

I’ve read many blogs today from Oregon fans rightfully calling us the “”Childcats,”” and I hate to say this, but Oregon deserved to win because of our attitudes toward our own team.

I know that it is frustrating, it is really hard being a Wildcat fan sometimes, but calling our own players degrading names is downright tacky at best. I’m not even going to get into what we called the Oregon players, or the injury we inflicted on Katelynn Johnson, an Oregon cheerleader. The other major contributing factor in our loss was prematurely storming of the field. Oregon was less than 30 yards away from a tie, with over a minute left. You guys ran out and caused a lot of distraction for our team and coaching. You practically gave Oregon the chance it needed to focus and outperform our mentally occupied defense.

Seeing our behavior toward our team, our players and towards Oregon, I think the right team won in the end.

Breton Homewood