Syracuse Fan Behavior

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Anyone else have awful experiences with Syracuse fans last night? I mean, there's all the usual stuff, but my postgame contact was worse, far worse, leading me to write an open letter to Syracuse alumni -- at least to the few decent ones I've ever met.

If you feel like having your anger rise even more after last night's game, you can read the whole thing here: jacquesofalltrades.tumblr.com/post/398532842/an-open-letter-to-syracuse-fans

But here are the lowlights:

• Like the Syracuse fan in a luxury box who was jawing back and forth with a Georgetown young alum that was heading out of Section 118, and decided that it was appropriate to throw a full cup of Coke on the GU fan’s sweatshirt. My wife and I watched as it happened, and wondered what could have possibly been said to make the Cuse fan decide to do that. As we were about to find out, not much at all…
  
• Barely a minute later, as we were exiting section 119 and about to head onto the concourse, a mousy brunette in a Syracuse tee shirt and grey North Face jacket reached up and dumped her half-full beer on my head and my winter coat, then immediately started weaving her way to escape through the crowd and pointedly ignoring my “excuse me’s” and taps on the shoulder. Not wanting to be charged with assault myself, I didn’t physically try to stop her and she escaped through the crowd. Now as to the question of what it takes to launch a Cuse fan into committing assault — apparently Liz and my discussion of whether we should take the bus or the metro home was enough to send this girl over the edge.
  
• This is to say nothing of the crowd of meatheads outside the arena yelling “F—- Georgetown! F—- UConn! F—- the BIG EAST!!!" Nothing like a night of family-friendly entertainment. (On a side note, strange they would mention two teams against whom the Orange blew huge leads but hung on for the win, helped in part by questionable officiating—late vs UConn, and early against the Hoyas—but that’s neither here nor there).
  
• Or finally, as we walked home, the Syracuse fan who decided that the side of a building on 15th Street was an appropriate place to urinate. Stay classy, Syracuse!
  

[757hoyafan]

I would have knocked that bitch out! They can say what they want, but once you cross the line by putting your hands on me, throwing a beer on me, etc then I am whupping your ass!

[fsohoya]

Like everyone, I was surrounded by them in 113, but for the most part they were well behaved. The people we need to whup are the scum who buy good tickets and then sell them to opposing teams' fans.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Feb 19, 2010 8:36:25 GMT -5 757hoyafan said:

I would have knocked that bitch out! They can say what they want, but once you cross the line by putting your hands on me, throwing a beer on me, etc then I am whupping your ass!

I thought about it, but with her being half my size, didn't think it was a good idea. My wife tried to track her down too, though, and I think if she found her, would not have hesitated getting in a few good shots, and maybe a bodyslam...

[1227]

The best behaved SU fan I encountered was one L. Moten who was sitting right behind me in section 110 (row I) with two shreiking tween girls in vintage Moten jerseys with the script "Syracuse" (maybe his daughters?).

Another SU fan in 110: drunk dude yelling "Erin Andrews" at random times during the game. And then she waved to him! And the cop who was shadowing/protecting her looked on.

[HometownHoya]

Feb 19, 2010 8:33:01 GMT -5 TrueHoyaBlue said:

• Barely a minute later, as we were exiting section 119 and about to head onto the concourse, a mousy brunette in a Syracuse tee shirt and grey North Face jacket reached up and dumped her half-full beer on my head and my winter coat, then immediately started weaving her way to escape through the crowd and pointedly ignoring my “excuse me’s” and taps on the shoulder. Not wanting to be charged with assault myself, I didn’t physically try to stop her and she escaped through the crowd. Now as to the question of what it takes to launch a Cuse fan into committing assault — apparently Liz and my discussion of whether we should take the bus or the metro home was enough to send this girl over the edge.
  

Didn't she know that you can't buy beer past the 16:00 mark? What was she still doing with a half-full beer

[DanMcQ]

...to say nothing of the group of Orange-clad males who bravely decided to pick a fight with a bunch of Hoya freshman girls (including my daughter) on the Metro ride home. Klass with a capital K.

[strummer8526]

I'm in Section 118, and on the way out, I saw a Cuse fan and the girl he was with shake hands w/ the GU guy and girl that they were sitting next to. I would obviously prefer the lower bowl stay GU fans, but fine, opposing fans will get in there. And during the game, some jawing back and forth is expected. But at the end of the game, Editeding be a man/woman, call it a good game, and get back to real life. I was at UConn last season, and we were going back and forth with some guys in front of us for part of that game, but at the end they were like, "Good times, we'll see you in the BET," shook hands, and that was it. I don't understand fans' need to take it to another level. It's one thing to be thrilled by a road win, to sing your fight song or chant on the way out—that's fun. That's part of being a fan. But why make it personal with people on the Metro or throw beer at someone? It's just low.

[hoyatables]

Feb 19, 2010 9:44:11 GMT -5 strummer8526 said:

I'm in Section 118, and on the way out, I saw a Cuse fan and the girl he was with shake hands w/ the GU guy and girl that they were sitting next to. I would obviously prefer the lower bowl stay GU fans, but fine, opposing fans will get in there. And during the game, some jawing back and forth is expected. But at the end of the game, Editeding be a man/woman, call it a good game, and get back to real life. I was at UConn last season, and we were going back and forth with some guys in front of us for part of that game, but at the end they were like, "Good times, we'll see you in the BET," shook hands, and that was it. I don't understand fans' need to take it to another level. It's one thing to be thrilled by a road win, to sing your fight song or chant on the way out—that's fun. That's part of being a fan. But why make it personal with people on the Metro or throw beer at someone? It's just low.

Sadly, for many of these people, this is the biggest moment in their pathetic little lives. (Note, that is NOT a "Syracuse/UConn is a horrible school" jab -- there are plenty of successful people who graduate from those schools, just that there are a few Hoya grads who are just as troglodytic. )

[lurkerhoya]

I have never had a good encounter with Syracuse fans. NEVER. They are absolutely putrid people, like the guys who tried to pick a fight after the '07 game with basically anyone getting on the student buses that would talk to them. I think it's easy to say that 'Oh, it's always one person who makes everyone else look bad', but with their fans, it's the one in 10 fans that stand out because they're actually acting normally.

[bronxhoya87]

Crying about other teams fans....how manly.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

There was also the actual physical fight that a bunch of Cuse dudes picked with a group of Hoya fans outside of Section 119 about 10 mins after the end of the game that had to be broken up by security, the "jersey shore" rendition between sections 121 and 120, and the hordes outside yelling monosyllabic epithets at every passing Hoya fan.

Truly awful, awful, awful fans.

NOTE TO GEORGETOWN TICKET OFFICE: IF YOU CAN MAKE THE LOWER BOWL A GRAY OUT FOR THE DUKE GAME, YOU CAN DO IT FOR THE 'CUSE GAME. THERE WAS WAY TOO MUCH ORANGE DOWN THERE, ESPECIALLY IN THE SEATS THE UNIVERSITY OWNS!

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Feb 19, 2010 9:54:11 GMT -5 bronxhoya87 said:

Crying about other teams fans....how manly.

bronx, i think you're wrong here. it's one thing to deal with whiners like 'nova who just talk, but 'cuse was taking it to a physical level last night---see my previous post about the fight that was started and THB's post about getting beer poured on him for no reason.

this goes way beyond psychological discomfort with opposing fans, it's about safety and security. i'm not sure if you were never bullied in primary or secondary school, but there were a whole horde of bullies in orange last night. not good, and totally valid topic of discussion. if opposing fans can't conduct themselves with at least a modicum of decorum, in my view they forfeit the privilege of being there, and the university should do everything in its power to deny them access.

[HoyasAreHungry]

they were awful...way too many of that slime. So many decided to talk smack after the game reallllly took a lot not to punch them in the face after their jawing. ughhhh so frustrating. Makes my skin crawl

it was a neutral site last night!! what the hell?? disgusting.

[KeysPlaceHoya]

The many, many Syracuse fans infesting section 101 were OK. Yeah, they were loud and obnoxious but at least the ones near me were just cheering for their team and high-fiving each other, not getting into it with Georgetown fans. I can only envy the enthusiasm they have for their team right now, and so long as they leave me alone they can cheer all they want.

I did see an altercation in 101 between Georgetown season ticket holders, however. The not very young couple to our left was upset that Hoyas fan in front of them kept standing up, so the woman complained and grabbed him, which he didn't appreciate and they started yelling at each other. They resumed their yelling match at the end of the game. It was ugly all around.

[strummer8526]

Feb 19, 2010 10:29:44 GMT -5 KeysPlaceHoya said:

The many, many Syracuse fans infesting section 101 were OK. Yeah, they were loud and obnoxious but at least the ones near me were just cheering for their team and high-fiving each other, not getting into it with Georgetown fans. I can only envy the enthusiasm they have for their team right now, and so long as they leave me alone they can cheer all they want.

I did see an altercation in 101 between Georgetown season ticket holders, however. The not very young couple to our left was upset that Hoyas fan in front of them kept standing up, so the woman complained and grabbed him, which he didn't appreciate and they started yelling at each other. They resumed their yelling match at the end of the game. It was ugly all around.

Yeah, you have to love the dedication of our Hoya faithful. Get of your asses or sit in the 200s. End of story.

[AustinHoya03]

Feb 19, 2010 9:34:07 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

...to say nothing of the group of Orange-clad males who bravely decided to pick a fight with a bunch of Hoya freshman girls (including my daughter) on the Metro ride home. Klass with a capital K.

I believe Syracuse fans refer to such behavior as "flirting."

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Fun to see my post getting play on the Cuse message boards, but I'm pretty amazed that
1) People think I have the time and interest in making this up.
2) I must be leaving out key facts of the story and the "confrontation that led up to it."

Honestly, I'm not sure why I would take the time to make up this . I'm not exactly the most confrontational person around, and I wouldn't have written anything at all about it if there hadn't been something that really Editeded me off.

And I actually would prefer that it had been justified, as quite frankly, I still don't know what would possess someone to do that. I know she certainly didn't give any indication of why as she was running away.

But I guess that's the glory of the internet, that there is no burden of proof required for an anonymous idiot on a message board to question someone's credibility.

[DanMcQ]

Feb 19, 2010 10:54:31 GMT -5 AustinHoya03 said:

I believe Syracuse fans refer to such behavior as "flirting."

LOL. The funny part is the goons turtled, aka Terrapinning.

[rosslynhoya]

I had a loud and obnoxious Cuse fan immediately behind me who screamed and hollered unspeakably nasty things all game long, but honestly no worse than what I would presume the right to yell if I were in the lower bowl at the Carrier Dome. In addition, we was giving no worse than he got from his die-hard Hoya buddy by his side.

The two to my left in the YA section were also loud and obnoxious but just like Keys said, were more focused on the court action than mixing it up with the Hoyas around them.

The two middle-aged couples ahead of me, though, were overly polite, to the extent that I couldn't tell whether they were just standard-issue milquetoast GU alums who hated being "forced" to stand and simply couldn't be bothered to cheer (the wives clapped nicely for both teams throughout) or whether they were Orange fans having a Bonfire of the Vanities moment. They confirmed their identities when one of them politely turned to me as the clock tripped all-noughts and said, "You guys will do great in the NIT."

All in all, I've seen opposing fans be much worse at the Verizon Center and think that if we had really wanted them to behave any better, we should have beaten them on the court. They traveled well, they erased our home court advantage pretty effectively, and we paid the price as fans and as a team.