Angry
by Bdub on Sep 30, 2007 10:16 AM CDT
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PrintI have never been this angry after attending a Texas football game. After the Rice game, I made a statement that, after this week, I firmly believe to be true:
The University of Texas has some of the worst fans in the nation, if not the very worst.
(Let me start this saying that the members of this site are not who I am ranting about. I don't know how many fellow Texas students there are that read this, but I imagine that a hand full of y'all are. I am sure that the readers of this site are dedicated fans, and absolutely not responsible for anything that I am pissed off about.)
Let me start off by saying that there is absolutely NO excuse for booing your own team while on the field. Ever. That is the single most unacceptable thing any fan can do at a college football game. Late in the fourth quarter against Rice, John Chiles gets stopped on a third down and goal from the four. When Ryan Bailey trotted on to the field to kick the field goal, many of the students (those who were left anyway, but that is a whole other issue) let out a collective "boooooo!" Unacceptable. Absolutely Unacceptable. But at least at this point maybe the players know THEY aren't getting booed at.
Now to just quickly hit on the point of entire quarters of the stadium being empty throughout the fourth quarter of the Rice game... just wow. But I guess I just buy in to the "Man Law: No Leaving Early" philosophy. Call me crazy.
Think back to yesterday, if it doesn't hurt too bad. Early in the fourth quarter Texas is down by three scores. On third and ten, Colt throws over the middle for five yards, and the punt team rolls out on to the field. Again, of the students that were actually left, a huge "boooo!" rang out.
Late in the fourth quarter, fourth and ten, Colt throws a two yard out to the right side. Turnover on downs. With even fewer students left in the stadium, the booing was louder than ever before. It doesn't take a football genius to know that a two yard pass on fourth and ten isn't going to cut it 9.5 times out of ten. I, though, but enough faith in our coaching staff and players to assume that they know that, too. Booing? Unbelievable.
Those kids out there are your classmates (The booing I heard was coming out of the southeast corner, largely students, so I am assuming that the majority of the booing was coming from the students' mouths). They are kids out there, too, fighting their asses off. Do you think they enjoy getting whipped, at home, any more than the fans do? What in God's name makes ANYONE think it is acceptable to boo at these kids?
"But I'm booing Greg Davis and Mack Brown, not the players," was the response I kept hearing. Then get a press pass, go in to the press conference, and boo at Mack. The kids out there on the field, your classmates, do NOT deserve to hear their own fans expressing any sort of attack like that. It is completely unfathomable to me.
If anything, the students should be cheering their asses off after a loss like that. I know I was. What is going to make the team play harder next week, their own fans booing at them at home after a sub-par performance, or seeing their classmates cheer them off of the field? Recognize their hard work. Applaud them. Let them know you appreciate what they do out on the field every Saturday. Help them keep their heads up and get ready to play next week.
For the first time all season I actually felt that DKR was in a mild state of frenzy at the start of the second half. It was raining, I don't think there was an entire section of students sitting down (granted they were probably hiding from the rain, but whatever), and the only thing I could think was "THIS is what this atmosphere is supposed to look like." It never does. I watch games on TV (I will admit that TV nearly always makes the crowd look much more amped up than they actually are, something about a camera that will do that to people) at places like Clemson, Alabama, The Swamp, etc. and I often wish our stadium had half of that enthusiasm. Too many students treat football games as social events. If you want to sit down and gossip the whole time (or bitch about Greg Davis), watch the game on your coach. Give your ticket to someone who will stand up, actually care, and (crazy idea) support the team. Maybe I'm being pessimistic because I'm pissed off, but I don't think I'm too far off base, here.
Sure, the loss chaps my ass. No question about that. But the way our fans have handled the past few Saturdays has been, in my opinion, unbelievably offensive. Offensive to the fans who are their to support their team through a win or loss, but especially offensive to the young men battling for four quarters on the field. Their play might not have been perfect, but I do not believe they deserve the half-assed support that they get.
-bdub
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But...
"But I'm booing Greg Davis and Mack Brown, not the players," was the response I kept hearing.
Yes, because people were booing Brown and Davis. They deserved it.
And since when do fans need a press pass to complain about bad coaching? That comment is just odd.
Yes, but
That isn't exactly my point. Fans do not need a press pass to complain about bad coaching. If the coaches deserve criticism, which they did, then go for it.
But what are the players going to think when they hear the fans that they are playing for boo? "Oh, don't worry, they're just booing Coach."
My point is that the players don't deserve to their the crowd boo. Ever.
Come here and criticize the coaches. Do whatever you want, but negative cheering at your own team is, to me, never the answer.
by Bdub on Sep 30, 2007 10:43 AM CDT up reply actions
I understand but respectfully disagree
But what are the players going to think when they hear the fans that they are playing for boo? "Oh, don't worry, they're just booing Coach."
Well...yes. The players know what's up. They know who is calling the plays, and they know the fans are aware as well.
My point is that the players don't deserve to their [?] the crowd boo. Ever.
I understand your point; I just disagree with it.
Come here and criticize the coaches. Do whatever you want, but negative cheering at your own team is, to me, never the answer.
And again, I don't think people were booing their team.
And to clarify...
I wasn't there. I see a poster below saying people were yelling at the players, e.g., Colt. I completely agree it's unacceptable to boo players and call out players. If that was happening, I don't support it. I just know everyone watching the game with me at home was booing--and we weren't complaining about the players...
Agreed
Texas fans have been especially nasty this season, and I've never been more embarassed to be a fan.
Some friends from TCU (girls at that) told me we had fans slamming the door in their faces, calling them aweful names, throwing stuff and acting truly disrepectful. But to hear our own team getting booed at home, no matter how bad the game, is just unexecpable. Maybe we need to reinforce the "Make us proud" Campaign.
Texas football hasn't had anything to be proud of for awhile now and we really need something.
by sharkbait101 on Sep 30, 2007 10:49 AM CDT reply actions
Thank You
You reflect my exact sentiments as a fellow student. Sure, I wasn't happy that Texas was losing handily yesterday, but I was straight up pissed off at some of the students sitting around me (I was in the southeast corner you mentioned). People yelling obscenities at the team (Colt and Greg Davis in particular), general bitching (as if they had any idea about what was going on), and (what makes me mad every week, regardless of the score) is what you said about games being a "social event." I absolutely despise of the students that go to these games just to look cool or be drunk in public. I bit my tongue on numerous occasions when I heard people (who don't know shit from butter when it comes to football) degrading their classmates and being complete assholes. Hopefully none of them have tickets to Dallas next week, and if they do, I hope they're stuck sitting with the OU fans. I don't want my first Red River Shootout experience ruined by a bunch of loud mouth morons that have no business being there. These type of people are our ammunition for making fun of rival fan bases, and after yesterday, I'm convinced that most of the students in our student section don't belong at Texas.
S4H is right.
I sat in the western half of the south endzone bleachers, and the boos were VERY loud around me. Not to mention I have an example for every problem you mentioned.
Yelling at Colt and Davis: I was surprised to actually hear more yelling at COLT! WTF? After the second INT, I started hearing "Get him out of here!" "Chiles should be the f-ing starter!" etc. They even booed Colt for the 2 yard pass on 4th down! I definitely heard a few GD comments, but the Colt stuff was killing me.
General bitching: "Come on Sweed, make a F-ing catch!" Chanting "Bull Shit" at the refs is ever-present.
Social pageantry: We had a whole section of drunken idiots chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" Every time we tried to start "Let's Go Longhorns" or something. Obviously, everyone left in the rain to watch TV under the stands, then showed back up when it quit. When those people left, the remaining die-hards went freaking NUTS! It was the most fun I've ever had at a Texas game. Then when we marched down the field for a TD just as the rain was letting up, the momentum was totally back in our favor, and we were going to win, no doubt. The INT happened once most of the fans had filtered back in, and so we became beset with boos, and bench Colts and etc.
I hate the same things we all do, but what can we do about it? Is it lowering student seating numbers (gulp)? Lowering ticket prices to make it less trendy? Quit selling alcohol on gameday in Austin? Something has to change, because I'm embarrassed by our fans.
Amen
I forgot about people busting Limas' ass, but that made me mad along with all the crap about Colt. I also forgot about the rain situation. I never thought about leaving, and there's no doubt that the best part of the game was from when the rain really started coming all the way until JC's touchdown run. There was electricity in the stadium and it was neat to be a part of. Too bad for those who took shelter during the rain, they missed out...
by Sweed4Heisman on Sep 30, 2007 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions
Agree on rain
I was one of the few who stayed during the rain at half and into the 3rd. I was in the southeast corner as well, and most of the students there filled in to the lower middle of the field once the alumni left (and slowly trickled back to their seats as the alumni did, too).
Anyway....Those of us who stayed had an amazing time for about 15 minutes. From the time the Horns came out of the tunnel, and up until right before K-State scored again, the atmosphere was awesome. The only ones in the stadium were the most passionate ones. And we were loud, and could tell the players were feeding off us. Too bad our momentum was yanked from us soon thereafter.
Let me clarify
Looking back, I realize I didn't make my point exactly clear at all parts of that.
Theres nothing wrong with reflection. Coming here after the game and saying "wow, those linebackers couldn't have brought down a tackling dummy." Sitting in your living room booing Greg Davis is what any able-minded 'Horns fan was probably doing.
I just expect people to behave a little bit differently while they are actually at the game. Criticism is not bad, especially when deserved. It is my opinion, though, that when you are in the stadium, it is your duty as a fan to support the team from kickoff through The Eyes.
by Bdub on Sep 30, 2007 11:25 AM CDT reply actions
Try not to kid yourself
But I guess I just buy in to the "Man Law: No Leaving Early" philosophy. Call me crazy.
As it has always been. Those paying the bills, the largest of Foundation donors, are the ones taking the quick exit on a consistent basis. They are there for one reason - to be seen. To make the statement they are wealthy enough to afford those seats. They don't give a shit about the team or their performance. They don't want to cheer for that team if they can run up to Dodd$ digs and slug down the scotch. It was that way when Darrell was coaching and it won't change anytime soon. They're not "ordinary" fans and they want you to know it!!
This is becoming tiresome
I find these holier-than-thou rants far more annoying than what a bunch of frustrated fans do in a stadium as their team is collapsing.
College football fans are passionate. Get over it. The day people stop taking these games so seriously is the day CF becomes just like every other professional sport, in which fans treat the games like stockholder's meetings.
Hopefully this sentiment will never win out, and fans will always be too angry when they lose, and far too drunk on victory when they win.
Sweed and angry fans
I wasn't at the game, but I definitely said a few things in the bar I was at about Limas Sweed. The guy dropped some big catches yesterday, and I didn't feel he was playing like a "#1 or #3" receiver. Everyone has bad days when they don't live up to their full potential, but I don't feel like a bad fan or a bad person for expressing my discontent. I've always been a fan of the longhorns and I'm a fan of Limas Sweed too. But, like most people on this site (in my opinion), I'm also very critical and I enjoy over-analyzing everything that is college football. To each his own, I suppose. I've noticed a slow but steady decline in the quality of sportsmanship in the student fanbase here in Austin, and that DOES make me sad. Things weren't like that years ago. If I had been at the game, much of what I was saying out loud may not have been said, or would have been said under my breath. But Longhorns fans aren't wrong to demand a higher caliber performance from our team...the real fans just friggin' love football in this state. And I suppose the drunken idiots will always be there too.
by imissderrickjohnson on Sep 30, 2007 1:56 PM CDT reply actions
Red faced in Dallas
I don't want my first Red River Shootout experience ruined by a bunch of loud mouth morons that have no business being there.
I had to laugh long and hard at this, S4H. Not at you directly, but for your coming experience when 35,000 plus Okies will handle all those booing chores. You will never get to see so many 'loud-mouthed morons' unless, of course, you go to College Station.
With the fan base on equal footing, the nature of the fan response changes dynamically. And where you might be inclined to boo at DKR Memorial Stadium, you might find yourself cheering at the Cotton Bowl, cause the Okies have flat pissed you off, one of their highly developed skills.
And trying to stop human nature is one of the most futile and ridiculous efforts in the world. We see a lot of that from religions and governments and it's all doomed in the long run, although it can cause a ton of damage in the short run.
Consider it this way. Teams earn this cheers; they generally earn their boos, too. At $55 a ticket, they get what they pay for. In high school with ticket prices a tenth the college level and the familial and personal ties much closer, you seldom see such booing. People just don't show up next week. And that might happen with Texas, too.
It's not the boos which are important to the administration: it will soon be the lack of bodies in the seats if this continues much longer. You could say help is coming from above, merely because the product is degraded at this point. There's a small window to get things back up to par, for Iowa St. and Baylor don't ever draw big crowds unless the Horns are winning big. People show up for offense, but they won't show up to be disappointed. That, too, is human nature.
Good luck next weekend and I hope it's enjoyable. My oldest daughter sat through two mournful OU weekends before VY and crew finally vindicated her support. I hope you find your vindication, too, and have a great experience in Dallas. And as a nice tip I should have to give: hangovers are hell during the game. If you thought they hurt before...heh, I know you'll be smarter than drinking a fifth of Jack D. Black on Friday night.
Haha thanks...
...I'll keep that in mind. I suppose you're right about the loud mouth morons...that comes with the territory. I expect this will be a great experience, win or lose (obviously much better if the 'Horns win).
by Sweed4Heisman on Sep 30, 2007 7:20 PM CDT up reply actions
In extreme agreement here.
Booing your team at home? What a fucking joke.
You may not think so, but those kids down there, as hyped and pumped up through various media outlets as they are, are still just like you and me. They feed off the crowd's reaction. They play for us, the university, the diehard fans. Booing them is a fucking slap in the face.
Just from my observations after five years in the student section (I just graduated in May, and got a job in Kansas...oh god this one hurt.), as the crowd (or the southeast corner anyway) gets cranked, so do the players. For instance:
- 2005 vs. Oklahoma State. Probably the greatest game I've ever been to (and I was at the 05' Rose Bowl) because its about as amped as I've ever seen DKR. That was an intimidating atmosphere, and it made a huge difference.
- 2006 vs. Iowa State. The rain delay. Weather delays always weed the assholes out, I swear. After they let everyone back in the stands, what was left of the crowd probably got louder than it was at capacity. The players came over, did the rounds giving fives to all the fans, and were bouncing all over the place by the time play started back up. No wonder Texas stepped it up a few notches.
Just the opposite:
- 2005 vs. Missouri. Texas won, but it was ugly. I actually heard probably the most asinine line from a fan ever during this game. "Where the hell is Chance Mock? Vince fucking sucks." Oh god.
- 2006 vs. Texas A&M. Tough loss, but come on. No energy, we were getting out yelled by Faggies all day. So much for home field advantage. The most emotion I saw out of anyone was my buddy when he was hell bent on jumping out onto the field and kicking Kellen Heard's ass after that late hit.
So, uh, for real. Save the boos for your living room. If you're at the game, odds are you can make a difference by not acting on a knee-jerk reaction and showing a little appreciation for the show those guys put on for you every Saturday.
by mmoore02 on Sep 30, 2007 11:53 PM CDT reply actions
From the other side.
First, this: Last year at the Texas - Oklahoma game, Texas fans were yelling "Texas Fight" so loud during the band performance by the Okies that I had trouble hearing the band. You say you wish Texas fans had half of the enthusiasm as Alabama, Auburn, Florida or (how did this team manage to get in here?) CLEMSON?? Please.
I have kept off of this site for the last 24 hours, simply because I feared two things:
- My own venom from having not fully digested yesterday's meltdown being spewed on this site, and
- People damning me as a "terrible (or god forbid, a bandwagon) fan" for being too critical of the Horns and pessimistic about the rest of the season.
Now that I have calmed down a bit and rationalized what happened yesterday, I must respond to this post, simply because it refers to the Texas fanbase as one of the worst in the nation.
First of all, I propose a question to you: When I was in Austin for the Texas-Ohio State game, two people behind me had this to say: "Fans like this piss me off." They were saying this in response to my continued standing up well through the end of the game, screaming encouragement at the top of my lungs, and at times, looking up to the coaches booth and raising my hands in disgust. Keep in mind, this was in the 4th quarter, when Texas was down 24-7. Do you share their sentiment about me? Furthermore, what does it take for you to consider someone a "good fan"?
I ask that only because I think there are worse things you can do than booing something you strongly dislike to be considered a terrible fan. Sure, people will leave games early in the face of certain victory or defeat, but have you even watched other games where only 25% of the original population is there when the game enters the 4th quarter? In addition, did you attend either the Texas - Arkansas game in Fayetteville, the Ohio State - Texas game in Columbus? If I had to choose between being part of a fanbase that is critical to the point of booing their own coaches or players in the 4th quarter or a fanbase that yells drunken obscenities to fans of the opposing team a full 8 hours before the game, I would choose to be part of the former without question. I apologize that yes, some fans choose to take out their frustrations by booing the players of the team they root for (you saw last week what happened when someone tried to poke fun at an amateur athlete), but to damn them as being the worst fans in the nation for being disappointed in the team they bleed for is ludicrous. As crappy as you may feel about all of those people that were booing next to you yesterday, don't get all doomsday on everyone and act as if DKR should postpone stadium expansion and resume selling $15 tickets at your local Tom Thumb (Remember that?) to fill the seats. People throw around the term "bandwagon" when they shouldnt just because the pessimism other people have about what they are observing reaches past their own comfort zone. We have to stop that; come gameday, I will always believe the Longhorns can win whatever game they are playing in (which is something not a lot of other fans can say about their team). Am I critical of the program and a couple of the players right now? Yes, I have no problem saying at times that I would easily outperform Greg Davis, and that Limas Sweed is so close to being the player he can be. After yesterday, has my love for this team diminished any? You bet it hasn't. And I'm willing to bet that a lot of those people who were booing for whatever reason yesterday will continue to support the Longhorns at the same level they did before September 29th even happened.
Sweed4Heisman has as much to look forward to as I do next weekend in going to Dallas, because I know that even if Texas got beat by 60 points instead of the 20 they got beat by, the Cotton Bowl will still be at least 50% full of burnt orange supporters screaming their lungs off (my first trip to the RRS was last year, and I plan on going every year I am alive from now on). Even though I haven't permanently lived in Austin for the last 6 years (I go to school in Memphis), I have been to several notable games, including both Rose Bowls. And even amidst all of the bitching and whining I do about certain players or coaches not performing to their level (which I do very vocally), I still root for Texas to the extent that I am fit for a straightjacket on the day of every football/baseball/basketball game. Don't call me a terrible fan for being as vocal about Texas when I am at a game as opposed to when I am at my house, thats just who I am; I will always be a Texas fan, even if they go Weis on everybody and lose every game the rest of this season; believe that or not, I am willing to bet that Texas has more fans that feel that same way than 99% of the colleges with a D1A football program. PB, never having even met you, I know that even if that scenario were to occur, you would continue to provide us with as much news about the team as you did during the 05 season. And while you may consider Texas fans to be the worst in the nation, consider this; sometime in the next 15 years, when Pete Carroll retires, watch what happens to the population of Memorial Coliseum in LA if USC has an off (read: losing to Cal or any team from Arizona) season or no Heisman candidate. Maybe then you could use the word "bandwagon.". Simply put: Texas fans always expect greatness to the point of being snobby about it, and I wouldnt have it any other way. I'm not sorry I believe that the football team is capable of busting off a 53 game win streak, and that Mack should be winning National Championships every year; the reason I believe this is that Texas happens to have the coaches and the talent to make it happen year in and year out. So, next time, please do me a favor and think more about what you are going to say to a group of people who just saw the team they strongly support get ripped by an inferior team at home.
Oh yeah, cheers to any of you that mentioned the words "fire," "greg" and "davis" in the same sentence yesterday and still havent scalped your tickets to the OU game next week, I know youre out there.
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