I watched the St. Ignace Lady Saints basketball game on a streaming blog on the Internet on Saturday, March 20. The sportscaster had nothing but praise for the St. Ignace Saints and their sportsmanship.

In contrast, he had nothing but disdain for the St. Ignace students that were in the stands behind him in Lansing. The deluge of profanity and racial epithets coming from the student fans was far more than he had ever heard, he said.

This conduct continued throughout the game, causing the sportscaster to condemn it more than once. Being on the Internet, there were St. Ignace and Flint supporters watching from all over the world.

The sportscaster claimed that no one attempted to tell the students to knock it off. Is this how we want people in Lansing and around the world to view St. Ignace?

Wes Caughlan

St. Ignace

Editor's Note: The blog was written and broadcast live during the duration of the basketball game by Bill Kahn from the Flint Journal. He mentioned racial comments once, with this post: “F bombs and racial comments? I understand that at any given game, both teams have idiots in the stands. I just happen to be closer to the worst stuff I've heard in a long time. I see a lot of games, a lot of schools. I'm totally appalled.” Later, he acknowledged that the comments were not coming from most fans: “A really ugly comment behind me now. Not every fan, not even close, but someone should step up and say enough's enough.”

We talked to St. Ignace schools athletic director Marty Spencer, who sat in the student section for much of the game, and while he did not hear profanity or racial comments, he said the school district does not condone such behavior. Mr. Spencer did address the student cheering section with a reminder about good sportsmanship before Saturday's game and also before the semifinal game Thursday. He pointed out that the sportscasters were seated at a table directly in front of the bottom row of student bleachers, and said that it's likely from that position that a sportscaster may have heard remarks by individual students. Mr. Spencer said that any inappropriate language the sportscaster heard was not coming from the majority of the students. District Superintendent Mike Springsteen, who also attended the game, said he did not hear profanity or receive any complaints, and he told The St. Ignace News that he received compliments that day from Michigan High School Athletic Association officials about the behavior of the St. Ignace fans.

Mr. Springsteen also said: “If such comments were made, it was wrong, ignorant, and not reflective of the values of this community. Our school program works hard to help parents instill positive character values in our students; we do not condone negative actions, and when or if they occur, we want them addressed.”