Classiest Non-GU Big East Fans?

[Big Dog]

After catching games at Freedom Hall and the Bradley Center this year, thinking about last year's Big East tournament, and remembering how some fans have conducted themselves in our house over the years, I thought it might be interesting to explore whether there is any board consensus over the most and least classy opposing Big East fans. Obviously stuff like this is entirely driven by anecdotal evidence, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun.

The Good:
Louisville - I was treated with a great deal of respect at Freedom Hall, even while we had the lead at halftime. This sort of confirmed my impressions from the BET last March, when I sat behind a row of LVille fans during our ND game, and they were very magnanimous despite rooting for ND to win (this was before they lost to Pitt).

The Bad:
Notre Dame - Maybe its a personal bias against the Domers, but I can't get out of my head their obnoxiousness during some of the Esherick-era games at MCI that I attended, in particular the 4OT debacle.

The Ugly:
Pitt - I have never heard anything like I heard at the BET from Pitt fans sitting behind us during the championship game. All of the usual borderline racist comments were in play, and everything they said seemed tailored to provoking a fight.

Marquette - I was really disappointed in my hometown on Saturday. Though maybe I've been deluding myself about sports fans in Wisconsin in light of what I saw at the Iowa-Wisconsin football game this year. Or maybe its just something about college sports. But it was far from friendly, regardless of the age of the opposing fan. And I had a similar experience two years ago.

Syracuse - Enough said. But it is a rivalry.

West Virginia - Too many games at MCI during the Esh era when they behaved like recently-released barn animals. (Moderators: that's a simile, I'm not actually calling WVU fans "barn animals.")

Seton Hall - Actually I have nothing to back this up other than the everlasting memory of the 2001 BET, when a middle-aged, well-to-do man in suit and tie decided to go NUTS when Eddie Griffin and the Hall started blowing us out of the building by taunting, for as long and as loud and in as foul-mouthed a fashion as possible, the GU students and band sitting behind the basket. A remarkable display from someone who should presumably know better.

I'm sure plenty of you have thoughts on others from your own experiences.

[SFHoya99]

General Rule of Thumb for me for any fans:

Good: Fans of programs that are either not very good (say, Seton Hall) or are very good historically (Louisville, Connecticut when they aren't deluding themselves over Calhoun). When you have low expectations or when you've been there before you tend to have a point of view that isn't abrasive.

Bad: Good but not great programs with giant chips on their shoulders (Villanova, Maryland) or programs that define an entire state identity (West Virginia, oddly, Rutgers).

What I will say is that internet fans are by far the worst of the bunch. Travelling fans can also be very grating because it is at your place.

But most of these places, when you visit and aren't an ass, you're treated well. Probably because you get away from crazy people who post on the internet all day.

[HoyaDestroya02]

Syracuse fans are the worst. WVU fans at their home court are actually better than those who travel... although still barn 'animals'

[FHillsNYHoya]

Have to disagree w/you re UConn, SFHoya. I've never found a UConn fan I could even really talk to during the Big East Tournament. Their fans at the BET, b/c of the sheer numbers, how they act, the way they whine during the game, are incredibly grating.

[SFHoya99]

Mar 4, 2008 10:13:40 GMT -5 FHillsNYHoya said:

Have to disagree w/you re UConn, SFHoya. I've never found a UConn fan I could even really talk to during the Big East Tournament. Their fans at the BET, b/c of the sheer numbers, how they act, the way they whine during the game, are incredibly grating.

Yeah, I don't see a lot of them so maybe I'm wrong. I just find teams that have been there to be better winners and losers.

[guru]

UConn fans are the worst, especially during the BET. Riding into NYC on a Metro North train to the Big East tourney and overhearing delusional UConn fans is a particularly excruciating experience, to say nothing of their obnoxious behavior in the stands.

[HeartAttackHoya]

I was at Freedom Hall this year as well, classy group for the most part, plus or minus a few. I think there is a direct correlation with % of fans that are alumni of the school and the overall classiness of the fans. Schools like Cuse tend to attract the non-alumni local highschool dropouts who act like idiots.

[Hoya TMF]

I went on two road trips this year with completely different results and experiences:

The Good: Louisville. Even when we were up at the half, Louisville fans were antagonistic, but not disrespectful. After the loss, we got a good deal of taunts, but nothing vulgar, just general exuberance about beating a good team. On top of that, when my friends went to breakfast the next morning wearing their Georgetown gear, a Lousiville fan actually paid for their meal (over $150), because he didn't want us to leave Louisville without getting something. Obviously that's an anamolous situation, but generally their fans were knowledgable and classy even when they were giving us the business.

The Bad: I hate Syracuse fans. They're obnoxious and I can't stand to be in their presence. Every experience I have with them is negative. I imagine it would be worse if I actually went to the Carrier Dome, but I have no interest in going to Syracuse for anything.

The Ugly: Marquette fans are the absolute worst. Of course, it should be noted that we lost at Lousiville and won a close one at Marquette, but there is no excuse for how their fans reacted. They whined about every call the entire game, and were absolutely classless in defeat. I was admonished for going into too much detail in a previosu post, so I'll keep it short. Marquette fans yelled, screamed, cursed and threatened us on the way out of the Bradley Center. And one person threw a lit cigarette at a female Hoya fan. They easily take the title as the worst fans out there.

[hoyatables]

I exclude internet fans because, well, we're all pricks behind a computer screen.

UConn fans are generally very good. They want their program to be successful, but also recognize the overall importance of the conference's success.

Villanova fans are generally very bad. Wallow in "1985" which is pathetic.

I actually find ND basketball fans to be very good. Then again, my brother is one. But in my experience, the Domers who are basketball fans first, and football fans second, tend to actually be pretty engaged fans who really understand and appreciate the sport. I watched the BET semifinal with a bunch of ND fans last year and even the most obnoxious of the bunch were still respectful and decent.

When in doubt, I avoid Syracuse fans. That said. my few experiences with Syracuse fans have revealed them to be decent human beings with one unavoidable flaw -- they are Syracuse fans. Capulet to my Montague, perhaps.

Before they left, BC fans were generally pretty decent folks. A little bit of that Boston obnoxiousness, but it was bearable.

To digress for a moment into non-BE fans: (Younger) Md fans are almost always obnoxious. UNC fans are obsessed with their own elitism but are generally smart and know the game (same with Kansas fans). Duke fans actually aren't so bad so long as you're not in Cameron or watching a Duke game (again, biased because I am marrying one). Rest of the ACC is forgettable.

[jerseyshorehoya]

Mar 4, 2008 10:13:40 GMT -5 FHillsNYHoya said:

Have to disagree w/you re UConn, SFHoya. I've never found a UConn fan I could even really talk to during the Big East Tournament. Their fans at the BET, b/c of the sheer numbers, how they act, the way they whine during the game, are incredibly grating.

Agreed. Next to Syracuse, UCONN fans are the worst at the BET, precisely because (as SFHoya states regarding WVU and Rutgers) they define an "entire state's identity." Totally unknowledgeable.

[Hoya TMF]

Oh, and Nova fans are terrible too. I almost forgot! I can't say that they were generally hostile, but on our way out of their arena last year, this dude tried to knock over two female Hoyas who were chanting Hoya Saxa just like the rest of us! I've never seen anything like that happen before.

[Jack]

I like USF fans.

Actually, Memphis fans have been the best I have encountered thus far, though the fact they won and Georgetown fans were virtually non-existent at that game certainly helped them to mind their manners.

[GIGAFAN99]

You know, it sounds bad, but I think classy fans come from classy places. Louisville is an awesome city and very classy itself. Pittsburgh, Philly, Morgantown, Syracuse etc are not. Just a broad generalization but I think it kind of holds.

[hoya9797]

Notre Dame fans are the worst in all of sports. It's a pretty good battle between UConn and Syracuse for second place but it is a distant second. I've never really had a problem with Marquette but I was not that impressed with their fans after the game on Saturday. Before the game, everyone was having fun, excited for the game. But, afterwards, my wife and I had to deal with people screaming at us, throwing crap at us, and one guy looked like he was about to come after me for a fight before his friends managed to calm him down. The hostility in the arena was kind of surprising especially given the fact that there was none at all before the game. I'll just chalk that up to a tough loss and a lot of beer.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

I think we have to exclude internet fans because Most other fan boards are full of jerks. Even temas whoose fans have been classy in person(louisville) are jerks on the internet.

An interesting point on internet fans. Every other team in the big east seems to be more positive about their team than georgetown. Before we play a team i think we're fairly objective and talk basketball whereas most other boards are all wohoo the other team doesn't stand a chance. Don't know why, but we appear a lot more pessimistic ( or more realistic) than most other fans.

any way

jerk fans : Deapul, Providence, seton hall, louisville, USF, cinci, st. johns

even worse Jerks: Syracuse, Uconn, Nova, ND, Marquette, Rutgers, WV, pittsburg

[washingtonhoya]

In my limited experience with Big East fans (outside of Verizon Center: it's always kind of a mixed bag with visiting fans aside from the constant annoyance that is WVU fans):

Louisville has been the exemplar of class behavior. I'm extrapolating based on only a few fans, but the fans sitting in the Georgetown student section for the UL-Pitt game in the BET last year were all very magnanimous, understood the game, understood the history of their own program and were very cognizant of the dynamic in the conference of the CUSA programs coming in and challenging for the Big East title. It was odd in that the few fans I talked to almost seemed deferential to Georgetown/Pitt/ND in MSG because we were the "traditional" Big East schools. Plus a couple of them were funny in that way that only codgy 70-year-old men can be, and offered to pick up the tab on food and drink at the Garden. Can't beat that. One of the reasons that Louisville is one of the teams in the Big East that I root for to do well when not playing GU.

Tied for the worst: Seton Hall and Nova. Again, this is the danger of limiting your perspective to only a couple of fans, but in my experiences with fans of these two schools, one or two fans can project a terrible image for the fanbase and school as a whole. Based on a couple of experiences, I'll assume the majority of Pirate fans are drunk homophobic NASCAR-jacket wearing New Jerseyans who either want to fight in the stands or want you to "come to Newark*", and Nova fans tend to act entitled, love bringing up 1985 with an impressive myopia that betrays the fact that they were likely not born yet, and can't handle a close game without wanting to fight in the parking lot afterward.

*If you ever hear me saying I want to go to Newark, please punch me in the face because I am lying.

[Hoya50]

i like this thread.

maybe it's just me, but i've been to a 6 gu-su games at the dome and never had a single issue. people there were mostly cool and were just into the game.

at the be final last year, i had 4 pitt fans to my left and 6 to my right and they were all cool and really knowedgable fans. the guys to the left of me and i had a dialog the whole game.

uconn fans are another matter. i live in hartford and have to deal with myopic uconn fans and their drivel. i have to watch commercials of jim calhoun tying little children's shoes and listen to that moronic "you you you on you" chant when a player gets fouled. whether at gampel or the civic center, uconn fans are ignorant of big east basketball and the game in general. i loathe them and NOTHING WOULD MAKE ME HAPPIER than to see the hoyas stomp them in the be tourney.

BEAT THE CARDS!

[tgo]

uconn fans by far the worst, every year at the BET multiple uconn fans make we want to nuke their entire state. nova fans are right up there as the worst, dumbest, most obnoxious people you will ever have the misfortune of meeting.
cuse goes without saying, although at risk of being struck by lightening, i have occasionally found cuse fans who knew their hoops but i have never found a uconn fan who did, and i have met ten times as many uconn fans through the years. providence fans are mostly classless too.
i have had good times with pitt fans.
i like st johns fans (both of them) but then i used to be one so i am biased.

with #1 being the worst i would rank
1 uconn
2 nova
3 cuse
4 prov
5 wvu

[dTRAIN]

For me UConn fans are the worst. Lots of annoying racial stuff (including a time the FHills pulled his ADA badge out on a guy who was being particularly obnoxious).

And they act like they invented Big East basketball. I remember them as a terrible team when Clifford Robinson was the only thing they had going for them.

dTRAIN

[FHillsNYHoya]

I don't know what you are talking about dTRAIN.....there would be no reason to pull that out there - I was not on official business....