RBC Center's Sign Policy Sucks

Please enjoy this email exchange between me and the Assistant General Manager of the RBC Center, home of the Carolina Hurricanes, regarding the arena's sign policy regarding the word "suck." Please let me know your feelings about the word "suck." Is it vulgar?

-----Original Message-----
From: Clever Sign Chick
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 12:20 PM
To: Larry Perkins
Subject: Sign policy during hockey games

Mr. Perkins:

I understand that you would be the correct person to discuss an issue I have had with bringing signs in to the RBC Center for Carolina Hurricanes hockey games.

Last night at the Buffalo Sabres game, one of my signs was confiscated at the door. The sign that the security staff believed to be offensive said, “CHEER IF YOUR TEAM SUCKS.” My husband informed them that I had been allowed to enter and had held up this sign during numerous previous games. The door man was unimpressed. He offered to let me take it back out to my car, but I was unwilling to walk the half mile there and back again and potentially miss the start of the game, so I left the sign with him at the door.

I have been a season ticket holder since 2001, and I bring signs in to every game I attend (probably 15-20 games per season). I am known as Clever Sign Chick. I have read the policy about signs on the RBC Center website and as described within the “Guide to Fan Etiquette” that was sometimes distributed by ushers during games. My signs are well within the size limitation, and I never hold up a sign when puck is in play, or even when there is a fight or when any other interesting thing is going on that I suspect someone behind me might want to see. I want to be a good fan and follow the rules, especially because I have been exposed to several fans who don’t show good etiquette and make the experience a bummer for those around them. My goal is to create fun signs with puns that make people smile. Occasionally, the messages might irritate fans of the opposing team, but it’s done in good fun, and they are usually good sports.

It is especially ironic that the security staff at the door last night chose to confiscate my “CHEER IF YOUR TEAM SUCKS” sign because it is THE sign that I have held up the most in previous games. I have brought it with me to every game I’ve attended probably in the last eight years. I hold it up whenever the opposing team scores. No one has ever complained. You can see an older version of it here: http://cleversignchick.blogspot.com/2010/06/cheer-if.html. (It gets worn out and I have to make a new one every few years.)

So can you please provide some clarification about whether or not my sign was unacceptable, and why? Is the word “suck” offensive? One time a few years ago, a different security person at the door wondered about it. He asked the opinion of another, presumably more experienced security person nearby. “’Suck’ is okay,” I heard him say, and I was allowed to enter with the sign. I remember back in 2001 or 2002, many dozens of fans were all holding up preprinted signs that said “PRIMEAU SUCKS!”

Another one of my signs that occasionally raises questions when I try to enter says, “O MG WTF IMHO REFUSUCK.” (It looks like an eye chart: http://cleversignchick.blogspot.com/2010/06/eye-chart.html). Last night, I was allowed to enter with this sign (which I would like to point out also had the word “suck” in it), and it has been shown on the Jumbotron during a game.

If these signs are acceptable and in accordance with the RBC/Hurricanes policy, what can I do when individual staff at the security checkpoint try to reject them? I don’t want to be trouble, but I’d rather not have to worry about whether I will get hassled based on the subjective opinions of whoever is working the door that night. If they are not acceptable, can you explain? I have other signs with the word “suck” in them that I have brought to previous games that I might want to reuse in the future, but obviously not if they violate a new policy.

Thanks for your attention. Go, Canes!

Margie McKelvy
aka Clever Sign Chick

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Subject: RE: Sign policy during hockey games
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 13:27:04 -0500
From: larryp@rbccenter.com
To: Clever Sign Chick

Ms. McKelvy,

First let me thank you for being such a loyal and dedicated fan, we certainly like the sprit in which you approach the game. It also appears that you are trying to follow the rules, while at the same time, being considerate and courteous to those around you, who may take offence and/or can’t enjoy the game because of their vision being blocked.

As to the language on the signage, we are in a very delicate situation as to moral values, freedom of speech and the wellbeing of all our guests. As you may know, we pride ourselves on being a Family Friendly venue and we have gone to great length to maintain that status, including the removal of fans who swear around young kids and others. Again, we realize that some fans don’t see harm in the use of the word “Suck, however, we have received numerous emails, calls and letters about this very subject, which is why you were asked to return it to your vehicle. I do understand that some of our staff members have not enforced the policy in the same manner as the policy states, and we will have to address that issue on an internal basis.

Ms. Mckelvy, I completely understand your point of view, and I respectfully ask that you also take a look it from a holistic approach, which is how we have to deal with it, and consider a substitute word that would convey your message and express the way you feel about the opposing team.

Again, I thank you so much for your continued support of the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Club.

Larry

Larry B. Perkins, CFE, CPP, CMP
Assistant General Manager
RBC Center/Carolina Hurricanes
1400 Edwards Mill Road
Raleigh, NC 27606
919-861-5466


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From: Clever Sign Chick
Date: Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 5:19 PM
Subject: RE: Sign policy during hockey games
To: larryp@rbccenter.com

So, then, the problem is with the word "suck"? And you have received numerous complaints about the word "suck"? How many? And was it all of a sudden, or have you been receiving numerous steady complaints for years?

Quite honestly, it never really occurred to me that anyone would think of the term "suck" to be vulgar. Perhaps for some people the term conjures up visual images of a sex act, but as I have been using the term in front of my parents since childhood, I can assure you that is not what I mean when I use the term. Here is an article about this very subject. http://www.slate.com/id/2146866/. It explains that although some slang terms may have once had vulgar origins (and the origins of the slang meaning of "suck" are not clear), their meaning loses the association over time. Would the RBC Center eject me if I had a sign that said, "jerk"?

You said that you have to look at this issue "holistically." To consider something holistically means that you look at the big picture as a whole. Are you considering what most people consider to be acceptable, or what a small but vocal few mistakenly believe to be vulgar because they are the only ones with a vulgar image on their minds? How can you know what most people think, since obviously the vast majority of fans who have no problem with the word wouldn't write to you to tell you they approve?

Consider that a Disney movie about pee wee hockey, The Mighty Ducks, released in 1992, uses the word. From http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104868/quotes:

Les Averman: Just so you know, we really suck.
Gordon Bombay: Hey, I'll decide who sucks around here.

Another Disney movie, The Princess Diaries, released in 2001, also uses the word. From http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/quotes:

Mia: Lilly! Just stop it, okay? Just because your hair sucks, get off mine!

The Princess Diaries is rated G and was released 10 years ago. In the "parental guide" for this film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/parentalguide) under "profanity," parents are warned that there are a few instances of the words "shut up," but there is no comparable warning about the term "suck."


Finally, the attached pictures resulted from a casual Google search. They are of course not definitive proof, but they suggest to me that (1) other hockey arenas don't have a problem with the term and (2) parents don't have a problem with their young children using the term on a sign for thousands to see.


I respectfully ask you to reconsider your policy about this word. What if one of these children tried to bring their sign into the RBC Center? They would be expelled too?

Sincerely,
Margie McKelvy
aka Clever Sign Chick