Fans At SIU

[Phantom]

Interesting thread here. I'd like to throw in my 2 cents, sorry for being long winded...

IMHO, the thing we all should understand is that when you go on the road to someone else's arena, you should at least expect some friendly jabs, maybe more. It's part of the game. For example, a bunch of us roadtripped to Wright St back in November and got PLENTY of words & looks sent our way. We aren't rivals with them and it was only the 2nd meeting ever between our schools, but there was a lot of venom spewed. But that dosen't tarnish my view of their fanbase as a whole, and the vast majority of them were very respectful and cool with us. I've gotten all sorts of bad looks, derogatory remarks, insults, etc. at every visiting arena I've ever been to, (including Carver, as recently as our last game there a few weeks ago). But it's all part of the experience as far as I see it. Some arenas/fans are worse than others. It happens. I adopt the philosophy that a few bad apples don't always spoil the bunch. But a certain degree of animosity or lewd remarks should be expected, ESPECIALLY from the students, many of which are probably drunk .

As for Redbird Arena and our fans...

I'm the first one to admit we have our bad seeds, as everyone does. I can safely say that any issues your fans may have with ours stems almost solely from the rivalry. It's heated and it's been going on for decades and hopefully will continue to be (hopefully without serious incident of course.) Same with SIU and their fans. Our rivalry with them used to be red hot, but then they smoked us 11 straight times and the matchup lost it's luster, but I'd say it's back now---and in the process, both our fanbases have become much more vocal with each other. Lots of our fans who roadtripped there last year had little good to say about them. Many SIU fans said the same about us. The point is, IMHO, some jabs & heckling should be expected. When it's a rivalry game though, it's likely to be more intensified.

Lastly, regarding the "you suck" cheer...

That is something NONE of us are proud of. The original cheer, which has been going on at ISU (and now many other schools) for decades, was a simple "You, You, You, Yooouuuu" when one of our players would get fouled. The cheer was directed at the player who committed the foul. In the late 90s, the student section started to yell "Suck" at the end of the cheer. For laughs, nothing more. Harmless fun. It stayed like that all the way until last year, when some ***** students at the top of the student section started putting obscene words at the end of it, making it sound like "youuuu, suck...****". Not cool. The cheerleaders, band, dancers are no longer allowed to start that cheer because of it. A 30+ year traditional chant has been eliminated. The students still do the cheer, but nobody shouts any obscenities at the end of it. (At least there hasn't been so far this season.) Hope that helps clarify some things about that.

[ifarania]

In my experience, a very crudely drawn line can be made between 'classy' and 'less classy' in the Valley... And it's a simple distinction of private versus public. I've never had a problem at the tournament or elsewhere with Drake or Creighton fans... and I've had awful times with SIU and isu fans. (I say the line is crudely drawn because I've had fine experience with ISU blue)

Also, ISU fans get crap from us at Carver, but NOT the kind of crap we get from them at their place. We might boo them or say something regarding being academically relegated to going to isu.. But it's not personal, its not vulgar, and it isn't socially offensive for any other reason (innuendo, discrimination against certain sexual orientations, etc).

[Guinness]

Again-you cannot throw things or threaten people. You CANNOT. It's not about having thin skin. It's about what's acceptable in society.

Happens to visiting fans at every arena. People screw around in good fun, an empty cup, a peanut, whatever. I'm not saying I encourage it, I'm merely stating that its going to happen and its not that big of a deal. "Hostile environment" means exactly that, hostile.

When I go to the movie theaters, almost every single time someone is going to have their phone out/have it go off in the middle of the movie or someone is going to be talking. Annoying yes, but do I go out and tattle on them? No, its just not worth it. And I've seen people(not myself) throw popcorn and straws at others making noise. People just shut up and dont make an ordeal out of it.

You state that if you don't like it, then don't go. This isn't about people going to a bar and being offended about people drinking and being drunk.

I dont know if you've noticed, but all major sports, and some college arena's have liquor licenses and PLENTY of fans turn into bad people. It is very common that people go to games to drink. College games? Probably even more so with drunk students. This is why most places have either a family/non-alcohol section or an alcohol section. This is why we organize group ticket buys to sit next to each other as Bradley fans at games. Or why the sports office works with the opposing school to designate a Bradley section. Its "our area".

Perhaps you should be lobbying for a family section or an alcohol section.

This is about people going to watch a basketball game and cheer on their team while having to tolerate people obnoxious, offensive "fans." Buying a ticket does not give you the right to threaten other fans, etc. That other person paid just as much as you did and has every right to enjoy the game.

Again, I never said anyone had the right to, but you have to know its going to happen and it will always happen walking into someone elses home court. And not just at sports events either. Any casual public ticketed event will have this issue.

If these actions continue, then people won't go. Basketball is a great game and should strive to be inclusive. There are, sadly, far too many examples of offensive fans, which many people tend to remember longer than the positive experiences they may have had at other games.

The topic of this thread is about going into an intense rivals home court and I should probably reiterate here that I'm specifically focusing on whats just bound to happen when you show up in a stadium full of fans that hate your team. And psychologically, some people dwell on the negative. That's their problem, there will always be something negative.

So if my GF or mom get offended at a game, then they should grow a pair? FAIL? You're on the wrong side of the fence here.

Look up the definition of a metaphor, instead of using a literal translation.

There's a big difference between good-natured banter and harassing, threatening, and THROWING things.

Please let this point be clear: YOU CANNOT THROW THINGS

Again, been happening for years. If it happens once, just brush it off.

And I have zero problems with people removing loud, obnoxious drunken fans.

If they're starting fights, then yes, they should and will be removed. But being loud, drunk, or saying bad words? What is this the word police?

And regarding swearing around children, you have to be a stupid parent to bring your kid to ISU, SIU, or any opposing team for that matter without sitting in "our" section (group buy, organized, etc) or finding a family section if there is one. Thats just lack of common sense.

I see parents bring their children to the bleachers at Wrigley. Why? Thats just asking for trouble.

Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with them removing alcohol sales from college and pro games (not that I expect it or am pushing for it-the vast majority of fans that drink do so responibly).

They make way too much money off of alcohol sales. The best solution here would be to have Family/Non alcoholic sections and alcohol sections. Until then, its just going to happen.

You walk into another teams home court, expect it, and if you dont like it, dont go to their home games.

[Phantom]

not sure I agree with all this...
I know for a fact that when we went to ISU in the late 70's and early 80's, the ISU crowd would chant loudly at Versace....

"You s**k D***, you s**k D***, you s**k D***" endlessly...
and the cheerleaders would even be leading the cheers.
the "s**k D***" stuff has been present at ISU home games at least as far back as Horton Fieldhouse and the late 1970's, so it's been going on for more than 30 years.

Perhaps, but I think we may be talking about 2 different things. I wasn't around for games in the 70's so I can't comment on those days. I have heard stories about those chants toward Versace though, and I think those were just an organized play on his 1st name. Not unlike a couple years ago when Coach K got fired up at the Cameron Crazies for yelling the same chant at a ref who had the that 1st name after making a few bad calls.

The cheer I was referring to has been there as long as I've been attending games. Many other schools like UCONN, CMU, even Indy St and UNI all do variations of it. (UNI in fact, does a carbon copy, even adding the "suck!" at the end.) When one of our players would get fouled, the cheeerleaders/band would yell out "You, You, You...YYYOOUUU" and then the students would yell "Suck!" It was never really a problem until last year when a group of, not all, students would add some clever words at the end of it. Because of that, the cheer was banned by our AD. The students still sometimes do the cheer, but nobody has shouted any obsceneties at the end of it this year.

[Phantom]

you think???

we're talking:
the 1970's-80's version - large, organized chants by the fans that are vulgar
vs. the present version - large, organized chants by the fans that are vulgar

I can't quite see much difference...the same thing exactly has been going on for decades unchecked and unooposed by either the press, the home fans, or the school officials.

Only when and others - raised an uproar, and corrected an erroneous comments made by the PJ Star writer about the chants, then he wrote a corrected piece, then the school took at least a soft, tooken stance against the vulgar and profane chants.
It won't matter, they still won't take any action, their words at ISU are meaningless...

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6945

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=62615#post62615

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showth...2622#post62622

Yes, I do think we are talking about 2 different things. Yes, both were/are vulgar, organized chants. That much is true. However, 1 of them was a play/rip on a coaches name. The other was a VERY RECENT (last year) add-on by a handful of drunk morons to an already existing cheer after a player gets fouled. 2 different scenarios, and even the way the chants were said aloud were different. If Versace's first name was anything else, I doubt such a chant would've been heard. The "You S**k" cheer after a foul is not the same as the one directed solely at Versace. Therefore, they are different. I'm not trying to nitpick here, but technically both chants are different.

I remember the PJ Star situation from last year. IIRC, there was a piece written about how awesome & respectful the ISU students were in our game vs. you guys or something to that effect, complaints were then made, and then another article by the same writer was written about our game vs. DU pointing out just how awful we were. (At least I think that was the 2 games written about, not 100% sure.) As for ISU not doing anything about the cheer, that isn't true at all. 3 support groups (band, dancers, cheerleaders) are not allowed from starting or participating in that cheer anymore. So if you do hear it, it's from the students. And heaven forbid the student section at a college basketball game act rowdy... As for the obscenities at the end of that cheer---they haven't occured at all this season. Hopefully that continues.

[Da Coach]

We have closed further discussion on this thread because it was getting a little off the original topic, and the discussion was getting quite crude. The censors were working overtime, and since they may not be able to moderate so much being a game day, we have closed the thread.

I think everyone made their points, and it started to turn into just a back and forth argument.