A Little Decorum Near the Court Would Be Nice

One of the best things about college basketball has always been the support shown by students for their teams.

The more clever it became, the more attention it drew. Witness the “Cameron Crazies” becoming a big part of any Duke home game.

There was a different reaction last weekend at Notre Dame when chants aimed at Connecticut guard Khalid El-Amin forced Fighting Irish coach Matt Doherty to later ask the students to continue their act in a “classy manner.”

Fans in the student section at the Joyce Center chanted “bastard children, bastard children,” toward El-Amin during a timeout in the first half. They also made reference to El-Amin’s Islamic faith, asking him “what does Allah think” about his illegitimate child.

El-Amin, who is married, has two children. One was born out of wedlock.

After the 68-66 victory that gave Notre Dame a season sweep over then-No. 13 Connecticut, Doherty was lifted to the shoulders of some of the students who stormed the court.

On Wednesday, a letter from the first-year coach to the students appeared in the student newspaper.

“Anything that is vulgar or a personal slur has no place in the Joyce Center,” Doherty wrote, signing it “Coach D.”

“One thing that I would like to ask you is this: As you show your support for our program, please continue to do so in a classy manner that represents this fine University.”

Doherty also e-mailed an apology to Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun.

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese faxed a memo to conference schools during the week on fan conduct.

“We must insist on a level of decorum by our students and fans, and we’re going to draw the line at personal slurs,” Notre Dame athletic director Mike Wadsworth said.

REALITY CHECK: Alabama assistant coach Robert Scott, a former player for the Crimson Tide, has been fighting stomach cancer for almost a year. Scott had prided himself in not missing a game--home or away--during his treatments.

But prior to last Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt, Scott called head coach Mark Gottfried and said he wasn’t up to making it.

The injury-riddled Crimson Tide were down to eight players, including five freshman and two walk-ons, against the Commodores. They dedicated the game and the rest of the season to Scott.

Scott watched the first half on TV at home and, sensing a possible upset, gathered his strength and made it to the game with about two minutes to play. He was in his usual spot on the bench when the 77-63 upset was over.

“As we all know, when you are fighting a fight like he is fighting, you have some days that are better than others and today was just a real tough day for him,” Gottfried said, fighting back tears.

“It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself, and as a coach, and we’ve got all these guys out. But our players see that every day, and they wanted to get this one for Robert.”

Scott has had quite an effect on the players.

“We don’t know how much longer he’s going to be with us, so we wanted to play for him,” guard Doc Martin said. “It’s something we all talked about. It’s sad, though, that something like this has to happen for us to play hard.”

TV MOVES: Hoping to broaden the spotlight from ESPN’s Big Monday games, the Mountain West Conference is contemplating a move to a Saturday-Monday schedule rotation.

“I know there are some obstacles out there but it’s worth considering,” commissioner Craig Thompson said.

This season, television deals gave Utah five appearances on the late Big Monday slot (10 p.m. MST) while lower-profile teams like BYU and Air Force went dry.

Under a Saturday-Monday format, ESPN could choose the best game among four on Mondays. The league has six years left on its contract with the network.

Monday games would put a crimp in the practice schedule at BYU, where the Mormon-owned school prohibits extracurricular events on Sundays.

It doesn’t mean the possibility has been ruled out.

“We would just have to prepare some other way for Monday games,” BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. “If that’s what the conference wanted, we would find a way to live with it.”

Utah coach Rick Majerus, on the other hand, opposes the proposed move. He said Monday games make it tough for players to get to class on Tuesday mornings.

And while the Utes usually have several Mormon players on the roster, Majerus holds Sunday practices whenever he sees fit.

“I try to give my players a day to get away and focus on academics but if we’re practicing on Sunday, you never have a day off,” Majerus said.