Kabooom
December 5th, 2006, 12:36 PM
I had originally posted this on the smackboard, however, unfortunately this ....is not about smack...Check out both of these newspaper articles from New England papers, below my comments...
U-Mass Fans.........I know there are bad apples(fans) in every bunch, however, I have to believe this Writer is first off a professional, and is therefore intelligent enough to descriptively articulate on paper to what he has personally witnessed, and experienced at your home domain in Amherst.....Definately... more than just a few bad apples.......I've had the opportunity to enjoy several of Joes articles over the last year, and Mr. Sullivan has proven to me to be a pretty sound Reporter. Sounds as though it's time for some of you good guys to cull your herd.. This New England Sportswriter is just calling a spade as SPADE...This type of press...all starts with the overall disposition of a teams core fan base.....While your traveling fans will be welcome to to drink, mingle , and be encouraged to have a great positive experience while in the confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium, please remember that Montanans take care of their own, as well as taking pride in showing friendly visitors from the land of the beautiful hardwoods a truly unique game day experience. On the other hand they will not tollerate the above mentioned type of "no class" behavior in their house. That's right,, the Montana Griz Militia is alive and well..something to keep in mind...
To all U-Mass travelers comming out for the semi's...Enjoy the trip, enjoy the game, and your Montana experience! I hope you'll be able to take some positives of your experience out West back to Mass....to your domain, where it truly counts......
Joe Sullivan: No class at UMass
By JOE SULLIVAN
Union Leader Sports
3 hours, 40 minutes ago
ONE WAY or the other, I expected to be pulling for a New England college football team this Saturday. The University of New Hampshire was my overwhelming preference but the University of Massachusetts would have been OK.
I believe that, like me, most New Hampshire sports fans are New England sports fans.
If the New England Patriots had moved and become the Hartford Patriots, they would still have been my team. I've always loved the Boston Bruins, but the Hartford Whalers (with that great logo) were number two -- and I like the team's offspring, the Carolina Hurricanes.
In big-time college hoop, Boston College is first, UConn second. And who in New England didn't root for Vermont when the Catamounts of Taylor Coppenrath qualified for the NCAA tournament?
The decorum among University of Massachusetts fans on Saturday during the UNH-UMass football game left a lot to be desired, says columnist Joe Sullivan.
In college hockey, UNH is No. 1, but if the Wildcats can't win the big one, good for Maine, Boston College or Boston University if one of them can.
I have always enjoyed the successes all of our New England teams have enjoyed.
However, Saturday, when I watch Montana play UMass-Amherst in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I football championship, I'll be rooting hard for the Grizzlies.
I hope they dismantle UMass. And it has nothing to do with the university's football coach or his football players.
It's all about the UMass fans. It's difficult to cheer for a team backed by a large number of cretins and boors.
Last Saturday at Amherst, Mass., at the UNH-UMass football game, I didn't sit in the press box, shielded from these cretins and boors. No, I sat among them and moved among them.
It was not a pleasant experience.
Most members of the UMass student body that I encountered repulsed me. And we're not talking one or two undergrads; we're talking much bigger numbers.
I'm old enough and experienced enough to know that, unfortunately, dealing with the occasional cretin and boor is part of attending too many sporting events. Saturday in Amherst, the place belonged to these people.
Walking into the venue, I heard, "UNH sucks" from at least 10 different college-aged students sporting UMass garb. On my way up to my seat, a young man traveling with a group of young women (they all wore UMass clothing) showcased his anti-UNH venom by screaming, over and over, "(Expletive) UNH! (Expletive) UNH!"
It made no difference to the man that there were women and children walking in the same area. It did make a difference to me. I was halfway up the stairs, and as I continued walking, I looked down and caught his eye. I told him that he had no class.
"(Expletive) you," he screamed.
"You're walking with a group of ladies and you use language like that? That's awful," I answered.
"Ladies? Ladies? Their language is a lot (expletive) worse than mine, sweetheart. You just concentrate on getting up the stairs, you (expletive) cripple."
My words had failed to deter him.
The day continued. I watched the game and listened to the language coming from UMass fans sitting around me. That language was reprehensible. Maybe it's just me, I thought. Maybe I'm just having a bad day, I thought. Maybe I'm the only one encountering these goons, I thought.
I thought wrong.
Several of my friends sat in different sections of the stands. Different seats, same experience, identical sentiments. All eight of us concurred: The behavior of too many UMass students was both crude and boorish throughout the game.
Eventually, a group of police officers moved into position behind the UNH bench. They faced the stands where a large number of young UMass fans congregated. It appeared that they wanted trouble more than they wanted a victory.
Near game's end, an army of police officers and security personnel, many in full riot gear, patrolled both inside and outside the stadium. The radio announcers doing the game on WMUA said their presence was needed so that the goalposts would not be torn down after a UMass win.
I couldn't help but wonder what their job would have been after a UMass loss.
My experience at McGuirk Alumni Stadium ended the way it began. As I left, a UMass supporter (college-aged and wearing a UMass sweatshirt) told anyone wearing anything connected to UNH to stick the loss up a certain part of their anatomy.
No one said a word to him.
And that might be the saddest part of the entire day.
Go, you Grizzlies.
Joe Sullivan's "Column As I See 'Em" appears every other Tuesday in the New
__________________
And another one from the Daily Collegian....U-Mass's paper....
Fans representing 'Zoo Mass'
By: Chris H. Baker, a UMass Alumnus.
Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: Editorial / Opinion
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 Twenty-six years ago, I too called myself a UMass student. I loved my four years in Amherst - where I met life-long friends, played and watched UMass sports, joined a sorority, received an invaluable education and felt part of an outstanding community that made me proud to be a student and alumnus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Well, at Saturday's playoff football game against UNH I was far from proud - especially to have any association with the UMass students who sat in and around us - (and sadly enough, we tried three different stadium sections).
While the outstanding efforts of the football team and the world class UMass Marching Band did not disappoint me, the UMass student fans did. Driving two hours to the game from Boston with my husband, two sons - ages 9 and 13 and a 13-year-old friend, we were looking forward to an exciting afternoon of UMass playoff football.
We however, experienced a social scene we didn't expect. Given the drunken and other obnoxious behavior of the many student fans around us, not to mention the commonplace vulgarity, we were forced to move our seats three times just hoping to find a place where UMass students were not falling on top of each other drunk, or antagonizing UNH fans with profanity.
It was as pathetic a sight as an alumnus of UMass could experience. In our second set of seats, my 9-year-old son had two male students fall on top of him and land so hard on him that we thought his hand was broken.
So, while I thank the football team and the UMass band for their outstanding performances on Saturday, I ask the UMass students who are unfortunately reviving an age old "Zoo Mass" label - stay home.
The athletes and musicians who are making a name for our Commonwealth's flagship University don't need you or your immaturity, poor judgment and un-sportsmanlike conduct.
To the football team and marching band ... make us proud in Montana ... fortunately your obnoxious fans will be somewhere else embarrassing themselves. They had no idea on Saturday that it was about you and the University that you represent and not them.
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U-Mass Fans.........I know there are bad apples(fans) in every bunch, however, I have to believe this Writer is first off a professional, and is therefore intelligent enough to descriptively articulate on paper to what he has personally witnessed, and experienced at your home domain in Amherst.....Definately... more than just a few bad apples.......I've had the opportunity to enjoy several of Joes articles over the last year, and Mr. Sullivan has proven to me to be a pretty sound Reporter. Sounds as though it's time for some of you good guys to cull your herd.. This New England Sportswriter is just calling a spade as SPADE...This type of press...all starts with the overall disposition of a teams core fan base.....While your traveling fans will be welcome to to drink, mingle , and be encouraged to have a great positive experience while in the confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium, please remember that Montanans take care of their own, as well as taking pride in showing friendly visitors from the land of the beautiful hardwoods a truly unique game day experience. On the other hand they will not tollerate the above mentioned type of "no class" behavior in their house. That's right,, the Montana Griz Militia is alive and well..something to keep in mind...
To all U-Mass travelers comming out for the semi's...Enjoy the trip, enjoy the game, and your Montana experience! I hope you'll be able to take some positives of your experience out West back to Mass....to your domain, where it truly counts......
Joe Sullivan: No class at UMass
By JOE SULLIVAN
Union Leader Sports
3 hours, 40 minutes ago
ONE WAY or the other, I expected to be pulling for a New England college football team this Saturday. The University of New Hampshire was my overwhelming preference but the University of Massachusetts would have been OK.
I believe that, like me, most New Hampshire sports fans are New England sports fans.
If the New England Patriots had moved and become the Hartford Patriots, they would still have been my team. I've always loved the Boston Bruins, but the Hartford Whalers (with that great logo) were number two -- and I like the team's offspring, the Carolina Hurricanes.
In big-time college hoop, Boston College is first, UConn second. And who in New England didn't root for Vermont when the Catamounts of Taylor Coppenrath qualified for the NCAA tournament?
The decorum among University of Massachusetts fans on Saturday during the UNH-UMass football game left a lot to be desired, says columnist Joe Sullivan.
In college hockey, UNH is No. 1, but if the Wildcats can't win the big one, good for Maine, Boston College or Boston University if one of them can.
I have always enjoyed the successes all of our New England teams have enjoyed.
However, Saturday, when I watch Montana play UMass-Amherst in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I football championship, I'll be rooting hard for the Grizzlies.
I hope they dismantle UMass. And it has nothing to do with the university's football coach or his football players.
It's all about the UMass fans. It's difficult to cheer for a team backed by a large number of cretins and boors.
Last Saturday at Amherst, Mass., at the UNH-UMass football game, I didn't sit in the press box, shielded from these cretins and boors. No, I sat among them and moved among them.
It was not a pleasant experience.
Most members of the UMass student body that I encountered repulsed me. And we're not talking one or two undergrads; we're talking much bigger numbers.
I'm old enough and experienced enough to know that, unfortunately, dealing with the occasional cretin and boor is part of attending too many sporting events. Saturday in Amherst, the place belonged to these people.
Walking into the venue, I heard, "UNH sucks" from at least 10 different college-aged students sporting UMass garb. On my way up to my seat, a young man traveling with a group of young women (they all wore UMass clothing) showcased his anti-UNH venom by screaming, over and over, "(Expletive) UNH! (Expletive) UNH!"
It made no difference to the man that there were women and children walking in the same area. It did make a difference to me. I was halfway up the stairs, and as I continued walking, I looked down and caught his eye. I told him that he had no class.
"(Expletive) you," he screamed.
"You're walking with a group of ladies and you use language like that? That's awful," I answered.
"Ladies? Ladies? Their language is a lot (expletive) worse than mine, sweetheart. You just concentrate on getting up the stairs, you (expletive) cripple."
My words had failed to deter him.
The day continued. I watched the game and listened to the language coming from UMass fans sitting around me. That language was reprehensible. Maybe it's just me, I thought. Maybe I'm just having a bad day, I thought. Maybe I'm the only one encountering these goons, I thought.
I thought wrong.
Several of my friends sat in different sections of the stands. Different seats, same experience, identical sentiments. All eight of us concurred: The behavior of too many UMass students was both crude and boorish throughout the game.
Eventually, a group of police officers moved into position behind the UNH bench. They faced the stands where a large number of young UMass fans congregated. It appeared that they wanted trouble more than they wanted a victory.
Near game's end, an army of police officers and security personnel, many in full riot gear, patrolled both inside and outside the stadium. The radio announcers doing the game on WMUA said their presence was needed so that the goalposts would not be torn down after a UMass win.
I couldn't help but wonder what their job would have been after a UMass loss.
My experience at McGuirk Alumni Stadium ended the way it began. As I left, a UMass supporter (college-aged and wearing a UMass sweatshirt) told anyone wearing anything connected to UNH to stick the loss up a certain part of their anatomy.
No one said a word to him.
And that might be the saddest part of the entire day.
Go, you Grizzlies.
Joe Sullivan's "Column As I See 'Em" appears every other Tuesday in the New
__________________
And another one from the Daily Collegian....U-Mass's paper....
Fans representing 'Zoo Mass'
By: Chris H. Baker, a UMass Alumnus.
Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: Editorial / Opinion
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 Twenty-six years ago, I too called myself a UMass student. I loved my four years in Amherst - where I met life-long friends, played and watched UMass sports, joined a sorority, received an invaluable education and felt part of an outstanding community that made me proud to be a student and alumnus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Well, at Saturday's playoff football game against UNH I was far from proud - especially to have any association with the UMass students who sat in and around us - (and sadly enough, we tried three different stadium sections).
While the outstanding efforts of the football team and the world class UMass Marching Band did not disappoint me, the UMass student fans did. Driving two hours to the game from Boston with my husband, two sons - ages 9 and 13 and a 13-year-old friend, we were looking forward to an exciting afternoon of UMass playoff football.
We however, experienced a social scene we didn't expect. Given the drunken and other obnoxious behavior of the many student fans around us, not to mention the commonplace vulgarity, we were forced to move our seats three times just hoping to find a place where UMass students were not falling on top of each other drunk, or antagonizing UNH fans with profanity.
It was as pathetic a sight as an alumnus of UMass could experience. In our second set of seats, my 9-year-old son had two male students fall on top of him and land so hard on him that we thought his hand was broken.
So, while I thank the football team and the UMass band for their outstanding performances on Saturday, I ask the UMass students who are unfortunately reviving an age old "Zoo Mass" label - stay home.
The athletes and musicians who are making a name for our Commonwealth's flagship University don't need you or your immaturity, poor judgment and un-sportsmanlike conduct.
To the football team and marching band ... make us proud in Montana ... fortunately your obnoxious fans will be somewhere else embarrassing themselves. They had no idea on Saturday that it was about you and the University that you represent and not them.
Page 1 of 1
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