Disappointed in us as Bruins
by PasadenaBruin on Oct 18, 2009 1:35 PM PDT
27 comments
This is my first ever post so please forgive me if I break any rules or protocols.
Yesterday was the first game I attended this year. I know our team is reeling, looking for answers and some of us are a little frustrated. However, I was really disappointed in us as Bruins yesterday. Sure, i was upset at some of the play calls and some plays that should have been made. It wasn't those issues that really left a bad taste in my mouth. It was the behavior displayed by people (can't bring myself to believe they were Bruins) where my son and I were seated.
We were seated in Section 28, front row above the UCLA Tunnel. There was your usual liquored up guys yelling. I like the yelling and supporting of our team. But these guys were vulgar. Even if my three year old son wasn't there, it was inappropriate. But that wasn't the worst part. When the team went into the tunnel at half time, it sounded like the entire section was yelling at the team. They weren't being supportive or encouraging. It was a lot of "You suck!", What the eff are you guys doing", "Get your head out of your a..", etc.
We might not be the loudest and have the greatest reputation as fans, but when did we turn into "Laker/Dodger/Raider" fan against our own team. I've always loved being a Bruin because we are loyal and take pride in our school. We are always classy and respectful. I hope this was an anomaly and a bi-product of being down in the game and the hot sun beating down on some drunkards.
Please, somebody tell me it was just a mirage in the middle of the San Gabriel Valley in what felt like the Sahara.
Sorry for venting.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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i had the same
experience. From fans shouting profanity at our own players to booing them. Also, people showing up to tailgate and not attending the actual game.
by King J77 on Oct 18, 2009 2:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
that's not good. I was hoping it was just a few idiots.
I can’t believe our fans would attack our own players, and CRN. These are college kids. Very disappointed.
by PasadenaBruin on Oct 18, 2009 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
very sad
That’s really disappointing to hear. I would hope that our fellow Bruins could treat their OWN TEAM with more respect than that.
I guess all we can hope for is that those were bandwagon-ers, and that we won’t be seeing them at the Rose Bowl again.
I remember how mad I got when earlire this season, I believe it was the SDSU game where Craft had to come in for a couple plays after Prince went down briefly, and students around me in the student section starting screaming vulgar things about him, telling him he sucks, get off the field, etc. I almost lost it. No reason to do something like that. Ever. Especially to a class act like Craft.
I will be at the Rose Bowl on November 7th, cheering as loud as I can for our guys.
by shipphappens on Oct 18, 2009 3:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Student section?
Classes wern’t in session. Others camped out there.
by 10amla on Oct 18, 2009 10:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was in the lower section of the Den
There were definitely quite a few students there. I’m a student, I’m aware that classes weren’t in session.
by shipphappens on Oct 18, 2009 10:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It does seem different this year.
From criticisms leveled at coaching decisions to unhappy Bruins after a loss, we seem much more vocal in our displeasure. While I do not condone any behavior like you described, I do think the Fanbase has higher expectations from our football program. Whether justified or not they have been raised.
A brief history of raised expectation:
The late 90s saw us field teams that where in the National Championship and Heisman hunt on a perennial basis. Many of us became Bruins during this era and had no history of disappointment to curb our enthusiasm. After losing to Miami and coming to within one play of playing for a NC, many of us have felt there is no reason we cannot compete every year for a National Championship. After news leaked out of Toledo’s locker room of the lack of discipline on his teams; and after seeing 1st hand on the field that Toledo wasn’t as good a coach with his own players as he was with Donahue’s UCLA let him go. Then came the Dorrell era. While posting several mediocre seasons, Dorrell’s teams did manage to put up some very gratifying high lights such as beating Oklahoma, Washington, Cal, USC (twice) and many other very good teams that thought they could just come in here and walk away with a win. Then something truly special happened. Dorrell was forced out amid an amazing show of Fan outrage. And, I ask this of you all who go much farther back than I do, When has that ever happened? Thus began the Rick Neuheisel era. A Bruin Quarterback who has won the Rose Bowl as both a Player and a Coach. A guy with not only head-coaching experience, but knowledge of the Pac 10 and UCLA infrastructure. Add Norm Chow to the mix, and a full page ad calling out the clowns of South Central, and you can see our expectations have risen consistently and steadily over the years.
AGAIN, this doesn’t excuse the guys you describe at all. I hope they are reading this and feel enough remorse to either man up and apologize or at least make a personal commitment to watch their behavior in public.
But, things have changed amid the Bruin Family and I don’t think it’s going away. I think it can be a good thing, as we have shown here on BN with (I think) healthy discussion and criticism. Unfortunately, it can also be a bad thing as you yourself saw this Sunday.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
by MexiBruin on Oct 18, 2009 3:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I know different thread...
Where do you tailgate, mexi? The Korean BBQ tacos sound really interesting.
by 10amla on Oct 18, 2009 10:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's different every game.
We get together about once a year as a form of reunion. We meet up at the Ralph’s on Colorado and caravan over to the Rose Bowl. We try to stick together as much as possible and pretty much just get what we can.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
by MexiBruin on Oct 19, 2009 11:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Question, Mexi
We all read your posts about your experience with the Volunteer fans, and we had lots of good exchanges with them here. I think we all agree that the are ultra-classy. From reading some stuff on Rocky Top Talk, I know that there’s a little discontent regarding Crompton, or at least there was . Now the question – did you hear anything from those fans that parallels what’s been described in this thread?
I think we all agreed that we would like to be viewed as being at least as classy as the Vol fans, and maybe that means being more than good hosts. Maybe it means staying as relentlessly positive as our head coach.
by Fox 71 on Oct 19, 2009 10:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think society in general
is far to vulgar. There is no such thing as a safe family environment anymore. I remember being in the Den at games a few seasons ago and hearing tons of profanity. In my opinion profanity is the first sign of a small vocabulary, and at UCLA we are better than that, or should be. I know we are college age young adults, but I am tired of people using crutches and excuses. Just man up and be a responsible human being. I am a fully self-sufficient 23 year old, married, in grad school, didn’t curse, never drank, never smoked, never slept around, and did this while in a fraternity. The college experience does not equate to debauchery. Some people just have screwed up priorities, but that is the world we live in and that is forced on us daily in the media and entertainment. We are indoctrinated at a young age and the only way to fight it is with a strong family unit. Good luck and God grant you the strength to raise your son in the image of the Bruin you would want to be and want him to be.
by sponkey21 on Oct 18, 2009 5:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
You don't need to be at the RB to be offended...
by vulgarity. You can read “F” words right here at BN! Class of 66 dropped one in a post recently. You’re right it is far too pervasive and far too accepted.
No matter where it’s heard, read or said, it’s a barometer of just how far we’ve fallen as a society.
I like the way you think sponkey21.
by GogetemBruins on Oct 19, 2009 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
can a post be flagged.....
for sanctimony?
by insomniacslounge on Oct 19, 2009 11:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Disagree, insomniac
I don’t understand the need to poke fun at a person’s values. In context of the BN, those values would seem to be shared at least by Coach. I have always believed that the use of profanity was demeaning to the user, although there are times when the best way to convey an idea is to use words that you wouldn’t use at the dinner table. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one’s perspective, I have to pass on the “best” way to express the idea and go a different direction.
I have asked for a moratorium on various things in the past. How about a moratorium on profanity?
by Fox 71 on Oct 20, 2009 4:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
As Coach says
you can disagree without being disagreeable.
The mean spiritedness and vile attitudes of many fans is shameful to the program. I have no problems with legitimate criticism, but calling people names and accusing the coaching staff of being stupid, etc just doesn’t fly with me, particularly in Year 2 of a new regime with a .500 record in a season where most thought we would go .500.
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Oct 18, 2009 5:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I have the same problem
I sit in Sec. 5…mostly donor season ticket holders. One guy who is sitting in Row 54 has been an absolute jerk the entire season.
At the first game he was unmerciful to two fans who had the audacity to wear SDSU t-shirts in our section. They weren’t loud or obnoxious, even when SDSU was winning. They were politely cheering for their team.
This guy spent 4 quarters chiding these SDSU fans with vulgar and sexual comments…then he turned his wrath into everything having to do with San Diego…including my wife’s San Diego Padres scrunchie (despite her UCLA shirt and her cheering for UCLA). When I turned to him to tell him that was enough (hey, nobody is going to talk to my wife like that), he challenged me to a fight.
He hasn’t said anything to me or my wife since then (I think he was too drunk that first game to remember), but he has been a complete tool in each game afterward. Yesterday he was yelling at CRN “What the ****” are you doing". When some fans complained, his response was that he was “passionate” and that football was a “passionate” game and he had paid his money.
Well, I pay my money too. And I have issues with the way we have played the last two games as well, but I don’t see where vulgarity plays a part in being a fan. Nobody sat in row 53 yesterday (I wonder if those fans were sick of him too) and I have already decided to not go to the Washington game…or at least sit in my regular seats.
by bruinecon91 on Oct 18, 2009 6:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
that's a shame...
…that our own fans can discourage others to attend. Very sad.
by hicalliber on Oct 19, 2009 11:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's been civil where I sit
I’m in Section 3 and can tell you that the fans in my area have remained civil and well behaved the entire year. Thankfully, no problems. No booing of players or vulgarities. That’s just classless. Too bad you had to experience that.
by Bruin37 on Oct 18, 2009 9:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Rude Bruins
I don’t care how bad the team is playing or how frustrated we are as fans, there is no excuse for people who claim to be Bruin fans to yell negative, degrading comments to the team as they are going through the tunnel. We are in Section 16 and noticed the same sort of problem with fans….most are great but it seems like the bad ones are very vocal…. Complaining about every play, booing the team, yelling rude and crude comments to the opposing players, using profanity, flipping people off that couldn’t even see them. It seems like everyone is an expert in calling plays because they play NCAA football on their XBox.
One guy kept turning around and yelling to the crowd “You guys are weak fans!” & “Get off your a——”. You can imagine our surprise when he was one of the first to leave before the end of the game. When people pointed out the irony of his behavior he actually said he paid for his seat and he “could do what he wanted”… I don’t think some of these guys realize how riduculous they look yelling at college kids who are much younger and more athletic than they are. Some fans in our section wouldn’t let up. They yelled at the Cal fans and then they yelled at fellow Bruins because they were not yelling at the Cal fans. Absurd.
by 86bruin on Oct 19, 2009 10:34 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Jerks in every section
There are drunk and/or vulgar jerks in every section. When I had season tix on the alumni side, there were little kids everywhere and yet the drunk jerkos would drop the F bombs loudly even when they knew there were little kids right in front of them. It was uncomfortable and, frankly, it made me sick.
It is pretty unbelievable that people think they can talk like that just because they are at a sporting event. It makes me never want to bring my own kid to a game, seriously. They don’t need to hear that junk when they are just little kids.
by Barnes2JJ on Oct 19, 2009 1:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This is the first season since 2004 that I was not able to get my season tickets, during that whole time I have not experienced Bruin Fans get that bad. You heard the occasional “What are you doing” or “Wrap him up” during a missed tackle. But I guess it has gotten to an all time low with some of these fans. This is very disappointing to hear. This is the behavior I expect from $c and cal fans, but our own fans welling at our players is uncalled for.
As far as the vulgarity is concerned, it doesn’t matter who paid for the ticket, or if they are overflowing with passion. If kids are around, people need to measure themselves and tone it down.
by hval14 on Oct 19, 2009 4:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'll admit, by the 4th quarter, I yelled at Paulsen to not drop a pass.
And since I’m in Sec. 22, Row 16 (right over the opposing team tunnel), he probably could hear me.
Probably something I should avoid, but after seeing Paulsen drop at least one pass WITH BOTH HANDS IN EVERY GAME this season, I got a little frustrated.
M
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
by Meriones on Oct 20, 2009 11:33 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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