APRIL:
PAYNE COUNTY
A year ago, filmmakers, actresses and actors flocked to Oklahoma to shoot a movie, and in January, August: Osage County premiered around the country. Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper and a host of others did a masterful job of demonstrating their craft with spectacular acting. Yet, the movie itself was very difficult to watch with its strenuous level of dysfunction. Many who see it may end up feeling emotionally fatigued. Perhaps that’s because it reminds us of … us. Family abnormalities are like hair. We all have them; some of us are hairier than others. One of the most arduous scenes in August: Osage County is a family lunch, an apparently peaceful post-funeral meal. The mood heads downhill faster than the weather in Sochi when family matriarch Violet tells everyone what she thinks about them and their family secrets. It is an emotional train wreck. It’s inappropriate. It doesn’t belong. It’s the wrong stage for private conversations and private actions.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE OFTEN SEE THESE SAME BEHAVIORS PLAY OUT IN PUBLIC VENUES WHERE THEY SIMPLY DON’T BELONG: ATHLETIC EVENTS. We witness individuals who have
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been invited, or who have purchased a ticket, forget they are guests in a place where their presence should not overtly affect the main event. It seems the “safety of my own home and community” mentality gives some the false sense that any verbal or
APRIL 2014
physical outburst is appropriate. A ticket to an event is not a license to ruin one. You’ve seen these types, right? The ones who, if dysfunction were a city, they would be mayor. DON’T
BE THAT PERSON.
Paul Miller, a 1931 graduate of Oklahoma A&M, is quoted as saying, “NEVER PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.” Maybe we should create a few posters with Miller’s words to chasten those who let their dysfunctions out on everyone around them. We have a responsibility to other fans, the young people participating in the sport and the impressionable minds of children in attendance to demonstrate that sports are not about anger, hatred or spite. They are about support and embody encouragement and positive reinforcement. Mark Twain once said, “Those who know how to read and won’t are no better than those who can’t read at all.” The same can be said of those who know good manners but refuse to exhibit them. While we can’t dictate how others act, we can set the right kind of example.
Don’t get me wrong; spectators can have a profound effect on an athletic event. They create the home court advantage — an advantage, a plus, a positive.
Come to think of it, my mother is somewhat of a philosopher. In this circumstance, she would say: “If you can’t say anything nice, maybe it’s best you not say anything at all.” I’m not sure who came up with this next quote — some smart cowboy, I’m sure. Moms, forgive me if you don’t allow your kids to use this phrase: “Sometimes, some people just need to take a nice, long, cool drink of shut-up.” My suggested flavor:
orange.
KYLE WRAY VICE PRESIDENT ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT & MARKETING