St. Xavier’s is an all-boys Catholic high school, and apparently they’re proud of it. In a game with a rival school, Colerain, the team started chanting about how their invisible man gave them an edge: “We’ve got Jesus!”. Ah, the arrogance of Christians…isn’t it nice that they think they get to deploy the Lord and Master of the Universe to assist them in football games?
The Colerain team responded effectively, I think. They chanted back, “We’ve got girls!”
I don’t care what the score was. Colerain wins.
If I read the article correctly, the Catholics were responding to the taunt of “we’ve got girls!” rather than the other way around.
Well, you can rarely expect maturity by the athletes or their parents (or even many coaches) at most sporting events anyways. The reporting is the typical he said / she said uselessness, so who knows who really started the issue. I think the quote in the article says a good deal about the actual teaching of the St. Xavier students…so much for turning the other cheek.
I definitely side with Colerain…girls are much better than fictional invisible people.
But I bet St Xaviers has more penetrative sex.
My whole office is laughing like mad!
Good Jerb, Homestar… eeeeh, i mean… good job, PZ!
I certainly agree girls are better than Jesus (for existing, in addition to the other activities possible), and that kids are gonna mess with each other either way. I was just pointing out the flaw in the narrative PZ presented.
http://www.all-about-psychology.com/selective-perception.html
Classic paper in selective perception, “They Saw A Game”. Bottom line is, I wouldn’t trust fans of either side to be giving an objective report. As for who started what and when, this is a rivalry; whatever “started it” is likely in the distant past, and looking at any game as a discrete incident is an exercise in futility.
‘Arrogance’ sounds like the perfect collective noun.
An ‘arrogance’ of Christians. Nice ring to it.
And that comment by MadTom illustrates what the St. Xavier team and fans say they are dealing with — anti-gay chants.
SQB: well, it’s a Catholic school, so ask yourself: who is doing the penetrating? It may be same-sex, but rather than gay, it’s sad.
My public boys’ school had neither.
As an alumnus (2000) I can say that St X does foster an arrogance in it’s student body and that as an all boys school it is the target of homophobic attacks.
On the bright side, the rigorous Jesuit education I received laid the foundation for becoming an atheist after being raised catholic.
Class of ’87 here, and I echo Jon W, St. X was most likely responding to the Colerain fans, (Colerain is actually where I grew up). It was worse back in the 80’s when we had to put up with homophobic slurs and the football team sucked.
“Colerain sucks!” was apparently one of the many banned secular options that forced their hand.
My initial interpretation was that madtom1999 was referring to the presence of catholic priests; to catholic child-abuse rather than its being an all-boys school. I do hope I wasn’t wrong.
Argh, and the advert which appears under this article is “Date Christian Girls”.
Hmmm, maybe it just means I’m supposed to guess how old they are?
This is where I live, and high school football is huge here. St. X and Elder, the two big Catholic schools, are perennial power houses, and most of my in-laws went to Elder. Colerain is the power house public school team. Every year I root for Colerain in the big local rivalry game against Elder, solely because it’s a public school and not a Catholic school. But my kids won’t go to any of those schools, hopefully they’ll go to the public school with the worst football team, because it’s one of the top high schools in the country academically, far outclassing the Catholic schools. But “We’ve got girls!” is made of win.
I, too, live near here and had I not moved I would have gone to Colerain. Just another example of the ignoramus, backwoods nature of the Northern KY/Cincinnati area. I mean what do you expect when someone lives less than 25 miles from the Creation Nauseum?
Two other thoughts: Why is this news? I mean, who really cares? Its funny, yes, and I find PZ mentioning goes along nicely with his focus and sense of humor, but why is either coach mad? Why is the newspaper reporting this crap? It’s a chant, and a stupid one. This is pretty much a case of high school kids being stupid, and a testosterone laden coach getting mad after his team lost and showing his kids how to be a poor sport.
The other thing: Homophobic slurs? Kids say all sorts of vile things, and I’m against it, but the students at all boys Catholic schools around here aren’t victims, they have every advantage in a town that cares more about religion and football than about skills, knowledge, and talent. When people ask what school my kid goes to and I give them the name of a public school, you can hear the dismissive tone in the way they say “oh,” and change the subject. And that’s just elementary school. The Catholic schools here suck students and funding out of public school, and while there are plenty of Catholics around here, it’s all about white parents fleeing black students in public schools, which are, and I can’t find the source so these numbers are the best approximation from my memory, sixty some percent black and seventy some percent eligible for free or reduced price lunch. I don’t want anti-gay language used, I truly don’t, but I’m just more mad about public schools becoming the dumping ground for problems so parents can get their kids away from poor black students. And I’d like some specifics on these homophobic slurs and the circumstances where they occur.
Well, you’ve also got the Colerain coach who is upset by the other team saying they’ve got Jesus on their side while, as he says, Colerain has a chapel too (and something else, didn’t hear what). So, he’s basically offended because they had no right to claim that Jesus likes them better. [insert whinging and foot stomping]
There’s also the matter of anti-gay chants targeting the all-boys school. I’m a bit hesitant calling Colerain a winner of anything. That one chant might cause some amusement, but if it came on the tail of homophobic slurs, I’d just call both sides immature losers.
I don’t know if it is a generational thing, but when I went to a Catholic high school in the late 80’s, there is no way we would have chanted “We’ve got Jesus”. I would guess that only about 5-10% of the student body gave a damn about religion. Of course, we were co-ed, so that might have been a relief valve that these boys didn’t have.
If both side have Jesus do they end in a tie, or just explode in a supernova?
So? Who won? This will finally answer the age-old question – who is more powerful, Jesus or girls?
What are all these references to “homophobic slurs” in the comments on that article? I mean, there may have been other things said or chanted at the game, but in skimming some of the comments to the linked article, people seem to be implying that “We’ve got girls” is the “homophobic slur”. Ummm….if the students at the Catholic school were homosexual, then they probably wouldn’t care much about the lack of girls. Chanting “We’ve got girls” to a bunch of high school boys is tantamount to saying, “Go ahead and keep praying for sex, or even a date…we’re actually doing those things!”.
It’s funny… this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this happening… I’ve actually experienced it.
“We’ve got Jesus” is a common chant for parochial school sports when they play secular or public schools. I was sitting amongst a crowd of students chanting this exact same thing during a high-school basketball game some 8 years ago or so.
When the chanting was done, after a few minutes I asked the student next to me, who seemed to be deliriously devoted to the notion, if their team had ever lost a game.
“Sure”, he responded…
To which I said “well how could Jesus have let that happen? Unless, of course… ”
I just let the suggestion trail off while he looked at me cross-eyed.
Actually, if you read the article, it says they were responding to the “we’ve got girls!” chant. It also says the school regularly gets anti-gay chants and that they have strict limits on what they can say. Which is why they said, “we’ve got Jesus!”
Nice twist though, PZ. So much for the whole “truth” and “reality” thing.
Why do students at a supposedly Christian school need to insult the opposing team, anyway? WWJD? Doesn’t their book claim that the meek shall inherit the Earth?
When they’re on the receiving end of insulting chants in future, I suggest they turn the other cheek.
It also says the school regularly gets anti-gay chants and that they have strict limits on what they can say.
PZ did get the order wrong, but why don’t you learn how to read yourself, cupcake?
What anti-gay chants were there? It seems to be a vague claim ONE of the Catholic schools sources makes (I followed the links–did you?), with zero evidence to back it up. Nothing about what the slurs were and when they supposedly occurred, so that makes it sound like a peeved fanboi wanting attention off his school’s despicable behavior. And it is despicable to yell “We’ve got Jesus!” like it’s a good thing, no matter what the provocation.
Now if you have some evidence to present about the supposed gay slurs, namely some actual examples with some actual dates and times mentioned, then cough it up. Until then, you look like an idiot for believing something so vague, unsubstantiated and of suspect authenticity.
If you mean, the “We’ve got girls!” chant as being homophobic, we now must decide how much of a moron you are, because that is hardly homophobic.
In all the mindlessness about the “We’ve got Jesus” bizness, a rather more compelling story is found in the links Al Jazeera reporter gets boot from Texas football game. A Hispanic Al Jazeera reporter who was traveling around the US to get reactions to 9-11 was initially given permission by the principal to interview fans at a high school game, but when the principal tried to get the permission past the school superintendent, the reporter was stonewalled. Shows how much the press is respected in Texsux.
I would have never thought I would read such an homophobic rant here in your blog PZ. I’m offended and disappointed.
I do not have the pleasure of having met that guy Jesus they are so fond of, but why do you assume that he is not awesome lifting the luggage of the whole team?
PZ! My Naughty Reporting sensors are going off! Your interpretation of this event was skewed. The “We’ve got girls!” team started it according to the report. Then the other guys chanted back whatever pathetic thing their neurotic school didn’t censor.
My Ultimate team back in college at the University of Maryland Baltimore County would occasionally pretend UMBC stood for United Methodist Bible College and cheer things like “Who makes the disc fly straight? Je-sus!” High comedy.
I went to a secular high chool, but I went to Catholic co-ed schools until then, and I was in junior high at about that time. “We’ve got Def Leppard! And weed!” would have been a more likely chant.
Caitlin snided,
It was an honest mistake, and a mistake that was helpfully pointed out way back in comment #1 if you bothered to skim them before posting.
The “only” thing you’ve “added” was “hyperbolic” stupidity that “ignores” the fact that the “response” was typical bullshit “piety”.
In other words, your concern is noted.
You’ve got Jesus? Well, put him in the damn game already. Can he run in those sandals? Does he block?
I’m guessing a couple of hard hits, maybe a clothesline tackle, and he’ll be all “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.” There’s no turning the other cheek in football.
Does anyone not see the irony in a Catholic School complaining about homophobic slurs?
It’s hard to take their complaitns of homophobic slurs seriously when it basically boils down to “How dare they insinuiate that we good Catholic people are a bunch of faggots!?” Seriously, the bullying is wrong now because the Church takes the brunt of it.
Better chant?
St. Xavier’s, WE GOT EYE BEAMS!
St. Xavier’s OUR QUARTER BACK’S MADE OF METAL!
St. Xavier’s WE GOT X FACTOR!
And no one yet thinks it is ridiculous sexist crap, “We’ve got girls.” What wheelbarrow did you yahoos crawl out from under. This is the retort to, “We’ve got Jesus.”
What do the girls get to yell? “We’ve got idiotic, misogynist, asshole, classmates?”
Pay attention, please.
At the MN State High School Boys Hockey Tournament last year, Hermantown was playing St. Thomas Academy (heavily military and catholic, I’m guessing), and the student section for Hermantown did a pretty funny cheer, replete with signs… here it is somewhat phonetically;
PUB – LIC SCHOO – ALS !!! (Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)
They may have lost the game, but for me at least, they won the tourney.
No. I’d say the girls get to yell “We have equal access to education.”
“We’ve got girls” is a true statement in this case and I certainly don’t read that as the girls, women if you prefer, are objects.
Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.
hockeybob @38… My other favorite chant at that tournament was for the team from Moorhead:
“We want more head!”
test
The Father who usually took confessions scowled at the team.
“First, it’s pronounced Hay-zues. Second, you’re not supposed to tell anyone about the things we do…”