A Plea to a Basketball Fan

Dear BYU Men’s Basketball Fan,
A Certain Englishman bought me tickets to see the BYU Men's Basketball team play UAB tonight in the NIT opener. I'm excited because I love watching "my boys" play in the Marriott Center.
One of the main reasons why I love to watch BYU Basketball is because of you and the thousands of others next to you. You sit in a section known as the ROC (Roar of the Cougars). I love watching the energy and cheering from the student section. You come dressed in costumes, with signs, painted faces, and even wigs.

http://blog.utahscouts.org/finance/byu-basketball-scout-day-byu-vs-san-francisco-feb-8/



During halftime, many signs known as “Fat Heads” will be distributed to you. Just like every game this season, one of those signs will be of Donald Trump.


http://www.fathead.com/big-heads/

You will look at that sign and in that moment have to make a decision. Do you keep it or pass on to someone else. For whatever reason you’ll decide to keep it. Eventually UAB will go to the free throw line. In an attempt to distract him from making his basket, your friends will hold up their signs and scream and yell. My plea to you is this, please keep your sign of Donald Trump by your feet.


http://www.wccsports.com/news/sports_w-baskbl_spec-rel_013015aaa_html

That sign was probably purchased before Trump became a presidential candidate, before he told people to throw a protester out in the cold without a coat, before he offered to pay the legal fees for a supporter, and before he insulted the other candidates with names that a third-grader would use. The person distributing the signs might not even know that Donald Trump is in the stack. But I know. You see I’m a season ticket holder and I’ve gone to every game but one. I sit across from the ROC and I see his face every time. At first, I barely noticed it. But as the campaign has continued, I’m now very aware of his face in the crowd. And I don’t want to have to look at it anymore. You probably don’t know much about laws against 501(c)3’s and political campaigning. You may not even know that BYU is a 501(c)3 nonprofit institution. But I am not asking you to keep that sign by your feet for political reasons, but for moral ones. He is a rabble-rouser, a troublemaker, an agitator, a fanatic, and every other synonym you find when you look up the word demagogue. He has no place in the Marriott Center. Maybe the UAB player will make the shot and get the point. Maybe this point is why UAB wins the game. Maybe you’ll feel like you didn’t do your small part to help the Cougs win. But you will be wrong. You did your small part to win a much greater fight.

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