Cries of "bullshit" and "asshole" directed at an opposing player or referee now bellow off the walls of college basketball arenas nationwide almost as often as a hearty chant for the home team.
Expletive-laced heckles have bothered administrators from leagues big and small who face the difficult task of trying to maintain tastefulness without violating anyone's inalienable right to freedom of speech.
Many of these incidents occurred over national television -- one example is the Maryland fans chanting "Fuck you, J.J." to Duke sophomore guard J.J. Redick while he was attempting foul shots.
While the Palestra is a venue known for reaching almost unbearable volumes when a packed house is attending, Penn basketball players and staff said that tasteless cheers are not commonplace in the Ivy League.
"Our fans are classy and don't say anything derogatory or anything awful," Penn basketball co-captain Jeff Schiffner said. "I think it's just regular stuff."
Penn men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy recalled some offensive chants at the Palestra this season, but said they were "isolated instances."
When Penn fans screamed "Fuck Wisconsin" when the Quakers played the then-No. 15 Badgers this season, Dunphy silenced them fairly quickly.
"I went over to the fans and asked them to cut it out," he said.
Though thankful not to be heckled by a fan section that Schiffner called "about as good as they come," members of the basketball team do have to hear chants on the road.
"People have come up with some creative stuff for me, but it's all in the fun of the game and enjoyable for everyone involved," Schiffner said.
This appears to be the general sentiment of those around the league, though other schools have been trying to eliminate jeers from the fans.
However, freedom of speech appears to be a privilege that Penn takes very seriously.
Penn Athletic Communications Director Carla Zighelboim told USA Today that representatives of the school's Committee on Open Expression attend games to ensure that security personnel do not infringe on free speech, even when such speech is foul.
However, there have been incidents of Penn students getting kicked out of the Palestra for heckling -- last year, then-Red and Blue Crew leader Jeff Millman was ejected for posting an offensive sign when the Quakers played Columbia.
Current Crew leader Jon Lubin said that the ejection was strange, since Crew members meet annually with Penn athletic staff and administrators to discuss ideas for signs.
"We sit down with a few people so they can feel comfortable with the work we put in behind the scenes," he said. "Because once you get to the game, there's little interaction between students and the people up top."
Lubin said that these meetings have been very constructive, and he welcomes more input.
"Coach Dunphy is a really classy guy, and we consider ourselves part of the program," he said. "If Coach Dunphy recommends something that he thinks can make us better, we're going to do that."
When it comes to actual policy on free speech, Penn is relatively liberal.
"We can say pretty much whatever we want -- it's our actions that they're really worried about," Lubin said.
Lubin gave an example of such an incident at a recent Princeton-Yale game.
"One student threw a basketball at one of the players.... That's something you're going to get kicked out for," he said. "If you're going to tell one of the players that he's an embarrassment to the game of basketball and that he's a worthless human being, they're not in any position" to reprimand fans.
Schiffner said that Ivy League fans are usually "more creative" than that incident reveals.
"Cursing is easy to tune out," Lubin said. "But when we know their girlfriend's name or when they're failing a class, that's when we get on their nerves."
Dunphy said that he does not prepare his players for heckling.
"It has become part of the game," he said. "You want to get lost in the moment and focused on what your job is."
"I don't think there's a lot of terrible harassing going on out there. ... If you are worried about what the crowd is saying to you, that's a distraction that you can't have."
This is the general sentiment that has kept freedom of speech alive and well for the most part in college arenas.
"There's a delicate line between freedom of speech and interests of good taste, but in order to know where the line is, you end up crossing it a lot," Lubin said.
"I think the way it's working now is beneficial for all parties involved, because we feel as fans that we are still in charge of our planning for stunts and [signs] and cheers, and the administration feels satisfied in that they have a heads-up on what we're doing and can put their two cents in before it's too late."
