An open letter to Syracuse fans
Dear Syracuse fans,
Let me preface this by saying that: a) as a Georgetown fan, I am naturally inclined to feel animosity toward your school, your team, and your fans, and b) that yes, I am still bitter about last night’s game, especially rewatching the beginning of the game and the 5+ horrendously blown calls in the first three minutes of the game and set the tone for the Orange’s big early lead. Also, I should note that over the years, I have met some people who through a strange twist, spent four years at that institution while still maintaining a shred of decency.
That said, this is by far the most classless fan base in the BIG EAST and possibly in the country, including “grown men” who have sworn at my mother during SU-GU games. And this disgusting lack of class was absolutely proven last night, in spades.
I am not talking about general obnoxiousness of both the color of your shirts and the content of your epithets. This is not about the grown man who got down and yelled in my friend Kathy’s face in the middle of the game. Or even the runty teenagers (maybe related to Gerry MacNamara?) who came down into the section at halftime to make vulgar gestures to the Hoyas student section. That’s all just part of the fun of college basketball.
No, this is about the atrocious, subhuman behavior on display after the game.
- 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 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.!
Now, on some level, I’ve always known that Syracuse fans are awful. Georgetown rivalry aside, they are generally recognized as the most obnoxious at the BIG EAST Tournament—an impressive feat considering WVU fans are there, too. And given the fact that Cuse fans pelted Georgetown students with bottles and other trash during last year’s game at the Carrier Dome, last night’s events are not a revelation. But they do make my hatred of that team a lot more personal.
So this message is for my friends and current and former colleagues, and any other of the number of individuals who somehow survived four years in that frozen hellhole, yet managed to avoid becoming total a-holes… you ought to be ashamed of your team, your school, and your fellow alumni.
Sincerely,
Jacques
P.S.: If this is how Syracuse fans behave after a win, what do they do after a loss?
Update (11:30 pm): I’d like to thank the folks who took the time to comment on the blog, whether you offered agreement, challenged my points, or just wanted to tell me that “GU/Cuse suck,” or to call me names. You have all offered me some good things to think about, and I appreciate the engagement. I certainly never thought the post would generate 2,000 views on the blog today!
To offer a little perspective, when I wrote my original post, it was about 6:30 this morning, before heading into work. I was less than eight hours removed from the events mentioned in the post, and I was (I think, understandably) pretty heated. While I don’t think you should write anything on a blog that you’re not willing to stand by—and so I haven’t changed words on the post from its original form—there are some things that I would have written differently if I had given myself another 8-10 hours to cool down.
First, I wouldn’t have mentioned the referees. It was not one of my main points (though it was something that was adding to my frustration), and it wound up being an easy way for people to dismiss the bulk of what I was writing, if they were so inclined.
More importantly, I would have been more careful with how I characterized the Syracuse fanbase as a whole. I stated pretty clearly in the post that I don’t think all Cuse fans act in the way I discussed, but I think rather than making statements about the Cuse fanbase as a whole, I would have focused more on the fact that a few obnoxious individuals have a disproportionate effect and reflect poorly on the (more well-behaved) majority, and that the effect was huge last night particularly in terms of crossing the line from trash-talking into violence.
I think it’s true that this rivalry brings out some of the worst in both groups of fans, which is one of the things that is compelling (and sometimes ugly) about big rivalries. There should always be a healthy amount of hate between the two teams, though there’s plenty of room for doing that without violence or destruction. In that vein, and in the spirit of great rivalries, I hope the Hoyas get one more shot at the Orange in MSG, and that we shred your defense for a big win!
Comments are closed on the post, but feel free to contact me (see the sidebar) with any more thoughts.
