Hey, UGa ... get your trash under control
UGA football fans' taunts out of bounds
I had presumed the University of Georgia, being in the heart of the South, understood the concepts of class and hospitality. At the LSU game last weekend, that perception changed as I heard UGA fans chanting "Katrina, Katrina, Katrina" while I was walking into the stadium.
Inside, the mockery included this comment by a Georgia fan: "This is our house --- y'all don't have any homes anymore!" After it was obvious that LSU had been beaten on the field, another fan yelled, "FEMA can't buy you everything."
These comments were directed at LSU fans, some of whom lost their homes and possessions, even their loved ones. They were there to see a team they love and respect, in the hopes that they could, if only temporarily, escape the horrible reality thrust upon them in recent months. The UGA fans were mocking a university whose efforts helped save thousands of lives, whose facilities were converted into triage centers, whose athletes sheltered the homeless.
I understand the typical ribbing associated with football games: "LS Who?" Fine. But when you mock people dying, you cross the line separating those who have class from those who don't. On Saturday, many UGA fans showed that they are so far from that line that they don't even remember what it looks like.
BRADY COUVILLION, Baton Rouge, La.
And you wonder why people can't stand your fans? There is a small but extremely vocal section of your fanbase that is absolute scum, and it slanders the reputation of your entire school. This is similar to Ohio State, where the large portion of well behaved and polite fans refuse to step up when this type of crap is happening. Stop turning the other way and letting this go on, the good UGa fans need to see this crap and make it clear it is not appropriate behavior in any way - that's the only way this kind of thing is going to end. Until then, good luck letting redneck trash continue to tarnish your's schools reputation.
posted by Nathan at 7:43 AM
Georgia Tech Sports
26 Comments:
Give me a break. LSU fans...with the gall to call out Georgia fans on disrespectful behavior? Bitch, please. LSU fans are the most obnoxious fans in the SEC. I could rant and rave all day long about how inconsiderate, disrespectful, incomprehensibly ugly, and generally tasteless LSU fans were when they visited our campus last year, but that would be pointless.
According to South Park, a natural disaster doesn't become funny until something like 22.5 years have passed. Obviously, some (although, until confirmed, I think this is hogwash) UGA fans took it upon themselves to speed that timeline up a bit. Get over it.
And another thing. If the LSU fans who these comments were directed at lost "their homes and possessions, even their loved ones," why the hell were they travelling to Atlanta and paying a high price for a hotel and ticket? If they've really lost everything, where did they crap the money to pay for this jaunt?
Give me a break, I'm a Realist. Just because another school does it doesn't make it right. It's tough to defend that sort of behavior as shown by your comments.
I'm not defending this behavior. I did not witness this behavior. I think the writer is making it sound a lot worse than it was. And plus, he is using the emotional strings of the hurricane victims to create sympathy for the oh, so poor LSU fans.
Did this behavior happen? Most likely. Was it even .001% of the fans that were at the Georgia Dome? No. He probably ran into five guys who were drunk off their asses already. Five out of the forty-thousand or so, and I'm supposed to be all apologetic? Forget it. Go read a chemistry book or something.
The point of this entry is that if any other UGA fans see this sort of behavior they should say something to the offenders. While I agree that whether or not this happened is up in the air, if only one person said something it is sad. I have told Tech fans to be more respectful at several games because I think that one or two bad apples make the entire fan base look bad.
(Next paragraph added because of the chemistry book comment) If the shoe was on the other foot and a tornado knocks your trailer off the concrete blocks, I'm sure you would not want to be reminded of it a football game.
I'm not defending LSU fans (who are basically UGa fans except with cajun accents). That doesn't change the fact that there's a small, vocal and completely classless section of the UGa fanbase that needs to seriously get the hell under control.
The fact that UGa fans can be compared to tOSU fans should scare you.
1) I'm glad you guys at least take a joke...chemistry book...wink, wink...nudge, nudge. Just a friendly jab.
2) I don't think the comparison to tOSU is valid. Are there some bad apples? Absolutely. There is no denying that. tOSU, on the other hand, has an overwhelming attitude problem that is prevelant in anything their fanbase does. The voice of reason is in the minority, not the majority. At UGA, the voice of reason is at least still the majority.
3) If my trailer was knocked off its concrete blocks, I would consider that a sign not to live in another freakin' trailer in tornado alley. Read into that what you wish.
First of all, chants of "Katrina" or jeers about being homeless show a severe lack of judgement and class. However, I find it ironic that a LSU fan could call into question anyone's "class and hospitality". Fans from every SEC school I've spoken with share remarkably similar stories of their experiences with LSU, especially when traveling to Baton Rouge. Some fans even go so far as to not wear their own school colors in BR, not for fear of inappropriate verbal jabs, but for fear of personal violence and vandalism to their property. I'll add this quote: "As you know, there is unfortunately an element in every crowd that does not exhibit good sportsmanship, and when crowds grow to the size of those on a football game day, it takes only a very small percentage of offenders to ruin the day for so many." This statement was included in a letter from LSU's AD to Tennessee after LSU fans attacked a Tennesee team bus before their game this year. I image after having beer bottles thrown at their bus and windows broken even the classiest of UT fan may have been angered enough to utter "FEMA can't buy you everything". But thanks for including this letter AJC in today's post, I'm certain no Tech fan has ever said or done anything inappropriate to a Wolfpack fan at a football game or a Duke fan at a basketball game. Hello kettle, this is pot.....your black.
Hey realist...
The LSU fans that made it to the game may not have lost their homes, but that doesn't mean that some of their family or friends didn't lose their lives or homes in the hurricane.
It doesn't matter that it's LSU fans. I'm not trying to defend them, we all know how they act sometimes, but that doesn't make it "OK" for some of your fanbase to say stuff like that to them. This is something you don't make fun of - ever. There's a certain line you don't cross, and that's one of them.
Yea, it probaly was just a few of your fans compared to all who were there. But ya know what - that's getting old. How many times are we going to hear "it was just a few people, no big deal"? It still makes yall look like trash - whether is was one dumb fan or 1,000 - and you guys need to do a better job of policing yourselves. That is why the comparision is vaild - b/c there NEVER is a voice of reason with your fans. Does that mean all UGAg fans trash? no. Does that mean all UGAg fans will be associated and perceived to be the same as trash? YES.
I know you won't agree, I don't expect you too since you're not on the outside looking in, but that's how it is. Face it.
Stop with the whole reason and logic thing, it ruins the whole theme.
Yes, GT has bad fans (though I feel like we get on them pretty good). UGa has more, and in my experience, are not condemned by the UGa fans to the extent they should be.
This seems to the impressions that many people have, not just GT fans and not just LSU fans - yet everytime a story comes up like this, we get UGa fans saying "it's only a few people". You know what, it's been "only a few people" a crapload of times. It's getting old.
"Does that mean all UGAg fans trash? no. Does that mean all UGAg fans will be associated and perceived to be the same as trash? YES."
I can't stop public perception, much less the perception from our rivals.
I would like to point out that it is impossible to prevent someone from rooting for a certain team, from buying the standard issue Wal-Mart team gear, or from being disrespectful of others while wearing that gear. There is no law on the books preventing people from being idiots, so there is nothing I can do. It would be nice if we could "police" the actions of those that attend football games, but that is impossible.
To hold a group of 90,000+ responsible for the actions of maybe 5 people is ridiculous, especially if the 90,000+ have no governing power over the 5. It's when the 5 turns into 5,000 that you should start to question the integrity of a team's fans.
Georgia 91, GT 75
So the immediate instinct of a Tech fan is to bash Georgia about something. Anything. That's a Freudian defense mechanism known as displacement. You are frustrated about this so you take out your frustrations on that.
My those grapes seem sour.
Nathan, I logged on today to read an in depth analysis of last night's basketball game from a respected Tech man's point of view.
Since you've chosen to ignore last night's game, I'll ask you how you suggest any teams fans "police" any other fans behavior.
Certainly drunk, obnoxious fans will see the error of their ways when explained to them with reason. Or would requests to "shut up" only encourage them more. Maybe they should have something thrown on them, or be beaten, is that the answer?
Perhaps the best way to counter those who act poorly is to make an extra effort yourself to show courtesy and repect to the opponents. In essence, the more "bad" fans you encounter from your own side, the more "good" you need to be to balance things out. But you've asked to "stop with the whole reason and logic thing"........
"I can't stop public perception, much less the perception from our rivals."
Yes, you can. When you see some idiot saying things like that, you tell him to shut up. It's that simple. Perceptions are there for a reason and it IS something you can control.
I also know that you cannot control every single person - it's just not possible. But when you have fans that do stuff like that in front of many other fans who just sit back and watch - that's what builds the negative perception we are talking about.
Do I think it's limited to UGAg fans? No - I know it's not and I know we have some of our own bozos who do the same things. The difference is EVERY time I've been around a group of GT people when a GT fan does something dumb, they jump on him for being an idiot. I've NEVER seen a group of UGAg fans do that - not once. Does that mean they're all bad people - hell no, but it just builds the negative perception many schools have of your fanbase.
". . . right down to the fight song that encourages teaching small children to curse."
UGAg's last line is "...and to Hell with Georgia Tech!" If you consider hell cursing, then so does your fight song. I personally don't consider hell being a curse word, but I would agree that I don't want my kid saying hell - we tell them to say "heck". And when we talk about drinking whiskey, we change that word to "water". When they are old enough to realize and undestand what both words mean, that's when they learn the real words.
"Even a rival fan must admit that there is no classier athletic director/head coach tandem in the South than Damon Evans and Mark Richt."
Um, no. Sorry, don't think so. Don't want to get into that argument, but I know for a fact that's not true.
Kyle, that whole paragraph about the LSU fan talking junk to you before the game is a joke. Seriously, you consider that as "absolutely insufferable"? Wow, I guess we have different definitions but I would consider that just normal smack talk.
Once again, have to disagree Richt is the best coach in the SEC. Is he bad - NO, but I don't think he's the best. That's my opinion and I know yours, so we'll agree to disagree, unless you don't want to.
Anyway, realist and kyle, you both made great points and I agree with you for the majority expect what I have pointed out. Kyle, when you said fans in general are getting more crude, I was thinking the same myself. It's a reflection of society as a whole in my opinion. I also know that most alums from UGA would never act like that. However, when said alums don't say anything to fans who act dumb, like the ones at the SECCG, it reflects negatively at your school as a whole.
What I mean is, a UGA alum and/or other fans HAD to hear those other UGA fans saying what they said. I'm sure they weren't being quiet when they said it and were in a group of people. Now, it's also possible the person who wrote the letter ran into these people into the parking lot by himself, but I wouldn't think it went down that way.
Sorry for my post jumping around from topic to topic - I was trying to find stuff in kyle's post but it was so long I couldn't find what was I was looking for until later when I was looking for something else! Seriously, that's one huge post! I think mine is close though... Again good points made - enjoying this discussion. I'm too lazy to proofread a post this big - sorry for typos.
anonymous,
you're jsut trying to start stuff. go away.
I haven't chosen to not write up the game, I just haven't had time - should be up later today.
Kyle you bring up some interesting points. I love IARRFGT with all my heart, but in a way it as a song defines our little brother syndrome perfectly. I hadn't really thought about it until just now, but even since the early 1900's we've apparently been defining ourselves by who we aren't.
It will never be changed though. It's been around far too long for that to happen and I honestly don't want to see it changed. I personally like walking the fine line between being tactless and downright rude. Shoot, in my latest blog entry I even admitted that I personally crossed that line today.
I just don't think IARRFGT crosses the line. To Hell with Georgia and signs that call us Nerds are basketball games are pretty much all in good fun as far as I'm concerned. Making fun of tragedy, well to be honest I'm the kind of asshole that can find that stuff funny too, but only after a little more time. In terms of swearing that just becomes a personal preference. I don't even consider Hell a swear word, but that's a moot point.
kyle, not trying to start anything with you, but since you want proof...
Richt is 52-12 at UGA (per UGAg's offical site)
Phil Fulmer 123-31 at UT (per UT's official site)
I know, Fulmer has been there much longer, so we'll compare his first 5 years to Richt's 5 since that's how long he's been there.
Fulmer was 60-11 through his first 5 years. He really took over w/ 4 games left to go in '92 so if you want to count that at his first year then he'd be 49-9.
So, comparing the numbers, Richt's record is slightly worse that Fulmer's. Does that mean he's a worse coach? Depends on who you ask or what you measure a coach by.
If you want to go more recent, we can compare the last 3 years b/t Tommy Tubberville and Mark Richt. Tubby is 30-7 while Richt is 31-7. Season is not over this year, so the records could be almost even or Richt could open up a bigger lead depending on bowl game outcomes this year.
Obviously, Richt is a great coach no matter how you look at it. I never said he was bad, but I don't think you can flat out say that he's the best. I think you can make a legit argument for Fulmer or more recently Tubby. I could go into more depth (SEC champioships, NC's, Head to Head records, SEC records, who they beat, etc - unless you want me to provide all of that too) but I think it's going to come out the same - Richt is definitely one of the top 3 coaches right now in the SEC along with Fulmer and Tubberville. Who's the best? Depends on how you measure best, but all 3 are up there, not just Richt. There's no clear cut number 1, which is why I feel you can't say Richt is clearly the best. I think Fulmer has a leg up on the other 2 due to his national title but one season doesn't necessarily make him the best coach.
With Spurrier coming back into the mix, I'd put him right up there with Tubby, Richt, and Fulmer. I didn't compare him and Richt since Spurrier has been out of the college game for a few years, but no doubt Spurrier is a great college head coach with an impressive resume. I don't know if he can do what he did at Florida at South Carolina, but he impressed me doing as well as he did this year. We'll see how he does.
As far as class goes, I don't think that's something you can really measure, so I can't prove that wrong or right honestly. I was wrong in saying I know for a fact that they are not. I think there's a lot of good, classy head coaches and ADs in the south and Richt and Evans are 2 of them. However, saying they are "the classiest" is a bit of a reach IMO since Evans hasn't been there long at all, which is was I meant when I responded, but I didn't do a good job of explaining.
Also, since you say I don't provide enough to support my statements, please tell me why you think they are classier than EVERY AD/HC pairing in the south since you gave nothing but that statement. Again, that's something that's hard to prove and to dispute - not to mention all the schools to compare. You also didn't provide anything to support your claim that Richt is the best in the SEC, but let's not squabble over all that. That's not the topic of Nathan's post anyway, which we have really got away from.
I obviously made a mistake on UGA's fight song. I've only ever heard it "and to hell with Georgia Tech." My experience includes attending every UGAg home and most away games for 14 years while I was younger - my grandparents are huge UGA fans and took me to every game from I was 2 to 16. Obviously, I was wrong - thanks for correcting me. (just in case you are wondering, I converted to a GT fan after I got accepted my junior year in HS).
As far as our song goes - I'm not surprised you haven't heard it like I described it. Adults aren't going to say it like I described it, but every GT parent I know who has taught their kid IARRFGT has used that version. So, if you really want to hear it, feel free to ask my younger cousins or some of my friends kids to sing it to you - but no, you're more than likely not going to hear it at a football game sung that way.
Hope that helps explain my points.
A break indeed. I walked in to my seat (in the LSU section) and heard a loud voice behind me, "Hey, look at the dickhead in the red cap. He better keep his f****** mouth shut." Just a guess here, but I don't think a lot of real Katrina victims had the cash or time to make the trip. I suspect your letter was written by someone who wasn't even at the game - like maybe a Tech fan.
And by the way - go to a Tech-GA BB game at Alexander sometime and listen to the techsters in the tickle pile down under the basket.
I don't like any of this sort of fan crap, but really, you have to laugh at an LSU fan writing to the Tech board to complain about Georgia.
That is ultra-wussy.
They didn't write to the Tech board genius, they wrote to the AJC and it was found on their letters section.
Yea, I'm sure a Tech fan was really behind that letter... another insightful comment.
Kyle, I had a nice reply written and unfortunately Xanga ate it when I tried to register. I don't have time to write it up again, but in short:
I see where you are coming from. I agree with your points about children and will attempt to be more mindful in the future.
I'm a jerk and don't care that other people find certain things I say offensive, but at the same time I do attempt to be respectful in person (yes this is a contradiction, but life is full of 'em.)
I do not call our other fans for things they say or display during games. Never have, never will. I pretty much only decry violence and vandalism against opposing fans. I am speaking in generalities of course. There are things that an opposing fan could say to my wife that would make me become violent. But I would hold that against that fan more than the fan base.
Enough rambling. I agree with you on certain points, disagree on others, and honestly just don't care about the rest. I'll try to get more specific later on. I appreciate the spirited and respectful debate though.
like it or not, when anyone from your school says such classless things, it is representative of your entire school. in other words, according to recent events, UGA = Trash.
anonymous, that is patently retarded logic. Because there is a classless fan at every single sporting event representing every single team. By your logic All Schools = Trash.
You're not gonna want to hear this from a Georgia fan, but your claims of "Redneck Georgia fans are out of control, you're not condemning them to the extent you should be" is nothing more than a lazy way of jiggering the argument so that there's no way a Georgia person can win it or even defend himself.
Let's say I was at the SEC championship game and told the hurricane-baiting Georgia fans that they should leave the LSU people alone and stop acting like jerks. Great, I did my part. But that guy who wrote his angry letter to the AJC is still going to write it, and you're still going to read it, and you're still going to condemn UGA fans as trash because that suits the stereotype you already have. I did exactly what you wanted me to do, yet still managed to accomplish nothing in your eyes.
What, pray tell, is the "extent" to which we SHOULD be condemning obnoxious fans? I would submit that there is NOTHING Georgia people could do that would satisfy Techies, because again, y'all have already made up your minds to view us as ill-behaved rednecks. Even if UGA took the expensive, dramatic, and probably unconstitutional step of removing anyone from the stadium who dared to utter an unkind word about the opposing team, thereby preventing any visiting teams' fans from getting their delicate fee-fees hurt, you guys would still be writing, "Look, Georgia is at the point where they actually have to call in the authorities to remove offensive fans from the stadium. Tsk, tsk. The situation at UGA is clearly out of control. You guys need to get a handle on this."
Seriously, what do you want us to do? Take out full-page ads in every daily paper in Georgia ordering fans not to trash-talk? Administer psychological evaluations to anyone who wants to buy football tickets? Arrest obnoxious fans and sterilize them so that they can't breed obnoxious children?
How bout I give YOU guys a little advice on how to deal with this: Grow a pair of balls and ignore it. It's college football, for Christ's sake. Alcohol is going to be consumed, harsh words are going to be uttered, and you can either accept it as part of life or let it ruin your entire gameday experience. I've been to games in Knoxville, Auburn, Jacksonville, and yes, Midtown Atlanta, and somehow this dumb obnoxious redneck Georgia fan has been able to do the former. Maybe y'all should try to do the same.
Then again, I don't even know why I'm contributing to this so-called "argument." Asking a Techie what he thinks of Georgia fans is sort of like asking Jennifer Anniston what she thinks of Angelina Jolie -- you know precisely what you're going to get before you even ask the question, and you know it's not going to be the least bit objective.
I would actually say that about 35% of Georgia fans are socially inept, given that I interact with the majority of them for every game. How else do you explain the anger at the institution when they tried to put the focus on EDUCATION rather than a pretty good football team?
And they all defended Vince Dooley when he allowed the athletic corruption that put them under the unwelcome spotlight of the NCAA.
And they all ran out on "their team" this year, with the last few home games not even coming close to selling out. Granted, this follows the pattern of the halftime flight that a gigantic crowd undertakes--these tickets are not cheap, generally, and you aren't even staying for the whole game.
Go Dawgs.
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