Do crowd taunts affect performance? A reader wants to know.

Q: I was at the Arizona game where I saw and heard for myself the student body taunting Sanchez with chants of “rapist” and “Dirty Sanchez,” among other more graphic expletives, during the pregame workouts and all the way throughout the game. The only other two times this has happened to Sanchez were at the two Oregons last season and this season. Not surprisingly, these three games have resulted in Sanchez getting very rattled and playing scared, always looking totally lost with a deer in headlights look. He clearly cannot handle these kinds of taunts and pressure, which have been obvious in these three games. So what could be done about this, are the coaches aware of this, and why do they keep playing him in these environments where he gets completely rattled by the taunts that he should be used to by now and he clearly is incapable of ignoring or feeding of of?

A: I don’t believe crowd taunts really make that impact. I think the general hostile atmosphere makes it harder for the entire offense, including Sanchez. It’s pretty hard on the field to hear individual taunts during the game. But let’s see what happens at the next hostile environment.

Q: There are many questionable moments in your poll, but since you only want one question, I’ll narrow it down to the strangest move. Last week you had Kansas at #16. This weekend they lost big at home to Texas Tech. and you still have them there at #16 in this week’s poll.
What is the reasoning behind keeping Kansas in the same position after a huge loss at home?

A: I left Kansas where they were because they lost to the No. 6 team in the nation and did not think teams like Tulsa or Ball State are necessarily better by playing inferior competition.

Q: When the Oregon cheerleaders saw the USC Song Girls, did they burst into uncontrollable laughter?

A: I didn’t notice I was too blissful from my own experiences.