Ugly fan encounter at Eagles-Packers game

[dixiehack]

What's supposed to be a two-hour experience for college basketball is rapidly turning into way more. Went to Tuscaloosa last night for a 6 pm tip (thanks for the Christmas present dad!) and it practically turned into a full workday.

I meant to leave the house by 3:00 but it wound up being closer to 3:30. With the extra traffic for rush hour, an hour's drive ended up adding another 15 minutes. That made it too close for comfort to get dinner and I hadn't had lunch, so go ahead and fill up when I get to town so I can grab a snack instead of paying grand larceny concession prices. Officials would rather die than let a game fit into a natural two-hour window. The wait for the shuttle bus wasn't bad, but then the parking lot was pure gridlock. Needed dinner but the wings bar nearby had a long wait, so have to hustle across town to Walk-On's. Pulled back in the driveway around 11. But at least I got to listen to the Mizzou game almost all the way home because that one dragged out nearly three hours too.

But at least nobody tried to beat me up and the Ole Miss fans around me got to wear their colors in peace.

 

[Roscablo]

College basketball is actually my favorite thing to attend at the moment (one of several sets of season tickets I have). I can get to the game right at tip if I want, no issue, it goes fast and you almost know it's going to be over in about two hours, and the action is fairly fast as well. Like anything else, it can get mucked up by reviews or whatever, but even when my team is bad, it is fun.

College football is the biggest drag for me. I live 15 minutes from my parking space and even if I just plan to be there for kickoff, it usually only takes about an hour less in total time than driving to Denver for Broncos games (an hour away).

The NFL is really my favorite spectator sport overall, and we've had season tickets since 2009, but it is harder to go all the time in part because of much of what has been said here. I did go to six games this year and really enjoyed it.

I don't have tons of experience at visiting stadiums, the Chiefs game I mentioned and a game in Arizona, which that is far from hostile. But I have had very few overall problems at games with visiting fans or whatever. Know who the worst were recently in Denver? Vikings fans last year at a Sunday night game.

 

[Cosmo]

I'm as die hard as it gets with the Caps, but I've been essentially priced out of games, and I'm not poor. Tickets are more expensive this year because a) the Ovi chase and b) uh, first place in the whole damn league. Let's pick a random Saturday game ... how about 2/1 against Winnipeg. It's $100+ just to get into the building for a single, and that's at the top of the arena. You want a decent view down low? You're shelling out $200 minimum, probably $250 or more. Then I have to drive from Richmond up to D.C., which can take anywhere between 2-5 hours depending on how cranky I-95 is that day. There's no way you can take the train back after the game, last Amtrak south leaves just after 7 p.m. So if you take the train, you have to get a hotel room, which is not cheap in Chinatown. So drive it is. Parking is $10-20 for a lot five blocks away. Then you need food, drinks, etc. Basically, you'd leave at no later than 3 p.m. to be safe, spend $100 on a ticket, $40 on gas, $15 on parking, (conservatively) $60 on food and drink at the game, beers are $15 a pop for Bud Light. It's a $250 night, bare bones, with no other concessions purchases to see three hours of regular-season hockey, and then you head right back down 95 to get home. No thanks. I'll stick with Joe B and Alan May* on my setup at home or at my local.

Sure, it's cheaper on weekdays, but that's a tall ask with work involved.

*Get well Locker!

 

[BTExpress]

If you live close enough for an ATP or WTA (or combined!) event, I highly recommend killing a day walking around the various courts and watching these magicians work up close.

 

[Hermes]

I watched a Steeler fan get ambushed inside a restroom at Cleveland Browns Stadium…at a 49ers-Browns game. I'll never know why in the world that poor man decided to wear Steelers gear to a Browns game in which the Steelers weren't playing. Not that he deserved to get beat up, but it was like wearing Lady Gaga's meat dress in front of a pride of lions.

It was the second-best fight I saw that day. A woman got mad at her boyfriend/husband in the Dawg Pound and slapped him so hard the entire section could hear it. There was a hush and then…wild cheers for her.

 

[Huggy]

Feels like we're moving more and more in the direction of "It's not worth it" for people to attend pro sports in person. Even without episodes like this, you have the time commitment, the price of everything, the hassle vs. sitting at home in front of the big-screen 4D TV, drinking my own cheap beverages and eating my own cheap food. Then when it's over, I turn off the TV, go upstairs and the commute home is done. Add in the assholes factor, and it's a very easy call for me.

To me, at least, the college experience is different and worthy of making a trip to a game or 2 every year.

Buddy of mine has Bills season tickets. Think he only went to two regular-season games, he sells the rest and more than pays for his package. He went to the Broncos game as part of a bus tour that picks fans up around the Toronto area, he's going to the Ravens game which is a 6:30 p.m. start which means he's probably looking at getting home by 3 a.m. considering how tough it is to get out of the parking lot and back over the border. I imagine he takes Monday off but if not that's a tough turnaround.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I watched a Steeler fan get ambushed inside a restroom at Cleveland Browns Stadium…at a 49ers-Browns game. I'll never know why in the world that poor man decided to wear Steelers gear to a Browns game in which the Steelers weren't playing. Not that he deserved to get beat up, but it was like wearing Lady Gaga's meat dress in front of a pride of lions.

It was the second-best fight I saw that day. A woman got mad at her boyfriend/husband in the Dawg Pound and slapped him so hard the entire section could hear it. There was a hush and then…wild cheers for her.

Seems like every NFL game, there's a crowd shot where you can pick out some jerseys of teams not involved in that game.

 

[MTM]

When I was a Dodger Stadium usher, I'd tell fans in visiting gear that we would do the best we could to protect them, but if they got raucous and egged on the home fans, there was only so much we could do about stuff being thrown at them. But that was the early 80s, when things were more civil.

 

[MTM]

Seems like every NFL game, there's a crowd shot where you can pick out some jerseys of teams not involved in that game.

I was at an Angels game once where in between innings they played "you're at the wrong game" and showed people in jerseys or shirts from different teams and sports. There was quite a variety, and some odd stuff.

 

[Cosmo]

I was in St. Paul for a work trip and wore my Kuznetsov Caps sweater to a Wild-Avs game. I received a few confused comments.

 

[I Should Coco]

I was at an Angels game once where in between innings they played "wrong game" and showed people in jerseys or shirts from different teams and sports. There was quite a variety, and some odd stuff.

I have attended a few games at Wrigley Field, usually because a friend wanted to experience it, and I have always worn some White Sox gear. Even though the Cubs weren't playing the Sox. Just because, that's Chicago for you.

But as others have said, there was some ribbing and a few PG-13 comments but no trouble. It's part of the fun of a rivalry.

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

My daughter is a Pirates fan, but I wear a Brewers T-shirt if I go with her sometimes. Get some comments, but the vast majority are out of curiosity rather than from a place of aggro. I guess it might be different if the Brewers were higher on the hate scale apart from Chicago, where you do get comments.

Packers gear in Chicagoland will definitely elicit comments. I recall getting gas somewhere in the area and someone did a drive-by "fork YOU PACKERS FAN!" which is kinda impressive that they saw my shirt from the road to be honest.