Old Titan Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I'll tell you EXACTLY where the "happy medium" is: 1. Cheer like crazy for your team. 2. Boo like crazy the ref's bad calls - but don't get personal with the refs. 3. Boo like crazy brutish play by the opponent - but don't get personal with the other team's players. 4. Boo like crazy inappropriate behavior by the opposing coach - but don't get personal with the opposing bench. 5. Never boo your own team. How hard should it be to live by those rules? And yes, GB, I have heard much worse at not only college contests, but even local high school games; it's an epidemic across all organized sports. Another installment of our downward spiral on "The Road to Rome"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUIsbig Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Truth is, that most players dont even hear the fans. At the UMKC game, Lewis missed a free throw and i yelled from the 6th row, "Come on Marcus, make you free throws, your killing me." He got on himself with a "shoot" reaction. After the game when i was getting his autograph, i said, Sorry about getting on to you for missing the FT. He looked at me like, What?? as if he never even heard it. And i was in the 6th row with a megaphone. were talking 20 feet from MDot. So i don't think we effect them as much we think. Same with the refs. What is personal? the guys hair, his name, his poor shooting ability? Are those up for grabs? Is telling a coach to sit down personal? Is calling a guy "burger king" or "Im blind Im deaf, i want to be a ref" personal? Ron hunter is way more abusive to his own players than us fans could ever be. What fans should be more aware of is the people around you. Be carful what you say if there are families around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Truth is, that most players dont even hear the fans. At the UMKC game, Lewis missed a free throw and i yelled from the 6th row, "Come on Marcus, make you free throws, your killing me." He got on himself with a "shoot" reaction. After the game when i was getting his autograph, i said, Sorry about getting on to you for missing the FT. He looked at me like, What?? as if he never even heard it. And i was in the 6th row with a megaphone. were talking 20 feet from MDot. So i don't think we effect them as much we think. Same with the refs. What is personal? the guys hair, his name, his poor shooting ability? Are those up for grabs? Is telling a coach to sit down personal? Is calling a guy "burger king" or "Im blind Im deaf, i want to be a ref" personal? Ron hunter is way more abusive to his own players than us fans could ever be. What fans should be more aware of is the people around you. Be carful what you say if there are families around. Trust me, they can hear you. I yelled "All right, guys - let's get it going here!" from the 5th row at the Creighton game, and both Adam Liberty and Kelvin Sango, who were getting ready to inbound the ball in front of press row, looked straight up at me - one of the people I was sitting with said they looked like they were waiting for further instructions! Adam Liberty's dad could be heard clearly from about the 10th row in Section E every game this season - several times, players during free throws on that end would look up at him. Last season, I stole a joke and got a laugh out of conference ref Bo Boroski, who was standing on the sideline with the ball during a timeout. From the 5th row I yelled, "Hey, ref - I think I found your cell phone! It says "10 Missed Calls"!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cletus Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I hate to go back into the past, but some of you may remember when we had several games in a row with bad calls and OR wanted the band to play "Three Blind Mice'" as we all would be silent during the opponents free throws. That was interesting. This discussion on fan abuse has been good to read. It's fun to jeer and yell but there is a limit. Sportsmanship was what we used to call it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Sports Illustrated article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Minyard Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I don't think that article really applies to the Summit League schools. I can't speak for the three new schools, but I haven't had any negative memories of the other school fans. I might not have liked their fans, but I don't remember them crossing the line. That even goes for Valpo fans. There is a line, and every person is going to draw it somewhere different. What's terrible to you or me will be different to someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oru86alum Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Adam Liberty's dad could be heard clearly from about the 10th row in Section E every game this season - several times, players during free throws on that end would look up at him. We sit a couple of sections over from Adam's dad & can hear him loud & clear - I love it! We also watched one of the televised home games (for a second time - can't remember which one) and when Adam missesd his first free throw he glanced toward where his dad was sitting & rolled his eyes - it was great to watch!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKC Eagle Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Adam Liberty's dad could be heard clearly from about the 10th row in Section E every game this season - several times, players during free throws on that end would look up at him. My dad's seats in the 70s and early 80s were E, Row 10, Seats 3-7. Your mention of them just sparked a lot of fond memories of Cat Johnson, Robert Griffin, Ricky Baskins, Antonio Martin, Calvin Garrett and the Titan train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 I don't think that article really applies to the Summit League schools. I can't speak for the three new schools, but I haven't had any negative memories of the other school fans. I might not have liked their fans, but I don't remember them crossing the line. That even goes for Valpo fans. There is a line, and every person is going to draw it somewhere different. What's terrible to you or me will be different to someone else. ManiacVP has related a number of times the Oakland student section throwing full water bottles at the Maniacs last year. Throwing ANYTHING at ANYONE (except for cheerleaders throwing squishy balls ) is over the line, regardless of who is drawing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU_Ed Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 ManiacVP has related a number of times the Oakland student section throwing full water bottles at the Maniacs last year. Throwing ANYTHING at ANYONE (except for cheerleaders throwing squishy balls ) is over the line, regardless of who is drawing it. That and maybe the overpowered CO2 cannon Listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euuVCieBZvY Oh and also, this one applies to our discussion in this thread. Caution: a tad off color! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 That and maybe the overpowered CO2 cannon Listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euuVCieBZvY Oh and also, this one applies to our discussion in this thread. Caution: a tad off color! I laughed for 5 minutes... THANK YOU! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orumom Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Last season, I stole a joke and got a laugh out of conference ref Bo Boroski, who was standing on the sideline with the ball during a timeout. From the 5th row I yelled, "Hey, ref - I think I found your cell phone! It says "10 Missed Calls"!" OT I'm still laughing. That is one of the best I've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacVP Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Truth is, that most players dont even hear the fans. At the UMKC game, Lewis missed a free throw and i yelled from the 6th row, "Come on Marcus, make you free throws, your killing me." He got on himself with a "shoot" reaction. After the game when i was getting his autograph, i said, Sorry about getting on to you for missing the FT. He looked at me like, What?? as if he never even heard it. And i was in the 6th row with a megaphone. were talking 20 feet from MDot. So i don't think we effect them as much we think. Same with the refs. What is personal? the guys hair, his name, his poor shooting ability? Are those up for grabs? Is telling a coach to sit down personal? Is calling a guy "burger king" or "Im blind Im deaf, i want to be a ref" personal? Ron hunter is way more abusive to his own players than us fans could ever be. What fans should be more aware of is the people around you. Be carful what you say if there are families around. What if the ref gets personal with the fans? One said we sounded like his ex-wife... i took that very personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 OT I'm still laughing. That is one of the best I've heard. The urban legend is that a Big Ten coach (I think it was Bo Ryan at Wisconsin) actually handed a cell phone to a ref and uttered those lines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 That reminds me of a Jim Valvano story that I heard a referee tell. He says that during a game, Jimmy V asks him: "Can you give me a technical for what I'm thinking?" The ref says no, and Jimmy V says "Well, in that case I think you stink". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Last season, I stole a joke and got a laugh out of conference ref Bo Boroski, who was standing on the sideline with the ball during a timeout. From the 5th row I yelled, "Hey, ref - I think I found your cell phone! It says "10 Missed Calls"!" Great line, OT. Can I use this next season?? In talking with some of the players tonight at the Send-Off dinner, I asked them if they could hear us yelling at the refs during the game. They said, "oh yeah!!" I have seen a couple of times where we have gotten on Bo, "Bart Simpson" or "Mr. Clean" and after gently reminding them of their missed calls, they stared in our direction to find "who was providing them instruction". It's actually kind of fun when you know that you have their attention (but it shouldn't be that way - they should be attending to the game at hand). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacVP Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Ive become fond of challenging the refs to a friendly game of 3 on 3 after the game. Once we get one of them to agree we usually ask them if its ok if we call the fouls because we dont agree with theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Great line, OT. Can I use this next season?? In talking with some of the players tonight at the Send-Off dinner, I asked them if they could hear us yelling at the refs during the game. They said, "oh yeah!!" I have seen a couple of times where we have gotten on Bo, "Bart Simpson" or "Mr. Clean" and after gently reminding them of their missed calls, they stared in our direction to find "who was providing them instruction". It's actually kind of fun when you know that you have their attention (but it shouldn't be that way - they should be attending to the game at hand). I have found that if you are specific, you stand a better chance of getting a ref's attention. "He palmed the ball on that drive!" or, "They're moving on those screens!" sometimes get a shrug, a nod, or a shake of the head. "Hey, ref - you SUCK!" will get you nothing in return. It's not only vague, it's confusing: as a Summit League ref, he has little hope of realizing which one of his many bad calls you are referencing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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