Social change is accomplished when hearts and minds are moved to change. The first time I heard the “IU Sucks” chant at a Purdue home game (win over Northwestern in 2016), I admit that I thought it quirky and funny. It reminded me of the times I’ve been to Fenway Park, when the Boston Red Sox are playing the Detroit Tigers and the fans chant “Yankees Suck!”
Over time though, my opinion has evolved, and if you clicked here with an open mind, perhaps yours will too. Or maybe it won’t, but the point is Purdue head coach Matt Painter believes it’s time to abolish the “IU Sucks” chant, and I agree with him wholeheartedly.
It’s not going to be easy, as Purdue basketball has been down this road before.
“We’ve been unsuccessful in trying to get rid of the chant through the years in the past,” Painter said on the Big Ten Tournament Preview Coaches Conference Call this week. #2 seed Purdue will tip off in about an hour against #7 seed Minnesota in the quarterfinals.
“This isn’t the first time that I’ve talked to our student section about it. We’ll see next year.”
“We have some time here in the offseason and next year we can make a push when The Paint Crew gets together and starts to get ready for the basketball season. This isn’t representing our university the way we want it to.”
So there you have it Paint Crew, you need to stand up and be the leaders on this initiative. In arguably the nation’s best game night arena atmosphere, you are the loudest section of the crowd. Be your best on this.
“I’m hopeful it will happen, but I also understand kids will be kids, and they can still do it,” Matt Painter added.
“So if that’s the case there’s not a lot a whole lot you can really control when it comes t something of that nature.”
While eradicating this chant is something we would like to see, at the same time, yes, we echo Painter’s sentiment in keeping some perspective on this.
Common sense gun regulation is the cause nearest and dearest to my heart, with combating climate change right up there with it. Abolishing the IU Sucks chant isn’t going to change the world, and I know that. However, at the same time, getting rid of this tradition is a valid cause.
Detractors will say it’s an example of extremist political correctness, or the forcing an apology culture striking again, or something for the always (artificially) outraged to get mad about.
It’s not, because I can tell you that I consistently rail against those people, the types without real problems in their lives and thus the luxury of finding something trivial to be incensed about. You have agent provocateurs on both extremes of the political aisle doing this, pundits who stand for nothing but whatever makes controversy and thus drives clicks to them.
This isn’t about policing language though, it’s about progress. And if all that still doesn’t convince you, then look at this way- do you really want to define yourself in opposition to something? And have that something be your hated arch-rival?
Forge your own identity, and do what’s right. Your program patriarch is hopeful that you will.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.