To the editor:

I am a regular season ticket holder for Kansas football and men’s basketball and am dismayed at the lack of civility on display by fans in non-student sections in recent seasons.

First, I am embarrassed that, at every KU game, some fans insist on ending the National Anthem with “home of the Chiefs.” I don’t like this word substitution at Chiefs games, let alone a Jayhawks game. Moreover, this is the National Anthem. Fans disrespect our country and our men and women in uniform with this base behavior.

Second, the complete lack of decorum on display by fans at both football and basketball games this season is troubling. Yes, I want the Jayhawks to win every game too, but I and everyone else in attendance need to remember that these are 18- to 22-year-old student athletes playing for both teams. They don’t deserve to have anyone screaming obscenities at them or calling them “punks” or telling them to “never show their face on the court again.”

I witnessed this belligerent, hostile, rude behavior most recently at the Kansas-Texas game. If you can’t conduct yourself with some modicum of decency, then stay home. Fans would also do well to remember that Coach Self does, in fact, know how to coach a basketball team; a national title and six consecutive conference titles prove it. Support our team, but do so with class.