I take exception to Robert Vice's endorsement of Saturday's post-game vandalism as it appeared in Tuesday's paper. When did it become socially acceptable to destroy public property in celebration?
As Robert appropriately pointed out, ESPN shows students tearing down goal posts around the country every year. The news also shows students rioting after big victories, as we witnessed last year in Chapel Hill when UNC beat Duke University.
But I fail to understand when our culture began to accept the "everybody else is doing it" argument as a moral justification.
I agree that students had reason to celebrate. Entering the game, the students obviously did not have much desire to support their team. UNC was in a tight football game with the number six team in the country, yet the only cheers I heard in the second quarter were from Florida State University fans.
It's great that fans wanted to run down on the field and celebrate with the players, fellow students who played an exceptional football game with intense effort. But jubilation does not excuse destruction.
I would like to extend my appreciation to the security guards who were trying to protect University property. Hopefully, the next time Robert wants to celebrate a Carolina victory, he will go home and throw his television out a window, smash his cell phone with a hammer and run over his computer with his car.
Michael Baltzley
