Fan revolts out of control, one wanted to fight UGA player
Braves fans littered Turner Field with beer bottles after bad call. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines fan as: 1) an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator; 2): an ardent admirer or enthusiast (as of a celebrity or a pursuit).
As with anything, definitions can often be broadened. The boundaries of this definition just seemingly shouldn’t stretch to home fans cheering when their quarterback crumbles to the ground with a concussion. Or throwing bottles and garbage on a baseball field, endangering other fans and players, in protest of an umpire’s call. Or egging and toilet-papering a home known to be rented by five college players out of disgust, merely because the team lost a football game. Or effectively challenging one student-athlete to a fight on Twitter.
Yes. One “fan” actually did that last week to Georgia’s Christian Robinson.
“There were all these people saying stuff about me on Twitter, it got personal,” Robinson, a senior linebacker, said about the aftermath of last week’s loss at South Carolina. “I had to start blocking people Sunday. I think I blocked about 30. One guy really started coming at me. I’m like, ‘Why are you talking to me like?’ Then he started giving me an address, saying, ‘Yeah, come meet me,’ and I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’”
So this is what it has come to?
That there is a lunatic fringe in sports fandom is not a revelation. In ancient times, a chariot race at Hippodrome in the year 532 CE, organized to raise support for overthrowing the emperor, ignited a riot that led to the deaths of 10,000 to 30,000 fans. But at least there was the backdrop of political and social issues.
A house rented by Christian Robinson (45), Aaron Murray (11) and three other Georgia players was egged and toilet-papered after a loss. (AP)
Lost perspective has reached moronic proportions. Kansas City Chiefs fans cheered last week when Matt Cassel was concussed because their team stinks, and they wanted Brady Quinn in the game. Chiefs linemen Eric Winston responded appropriately, saying, “We are not gladiators” and called it “sickening. It’s 100 percent sickening. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life to play football.”
Hundreds of Braves fans threw bottles and garbage after an umpire botched an infield fly rule call in the Wild Card playoff game
Fans cheered when Matt Cassel went down with a concussion, and one teammate called it "sickening." (AP)
against St. Louis. The next day, when Chipper Jones was asked why he didn’t respond to a plea by fans for a curtain call following the final game of his career, he said he wasn’t aware they wanted him out there, then joked, “I thought they were still throwing bottles.”
Then there is what happened in Athens. A house rented by five Georgia players was egged and toilet-papered following the Bulldogs’ 35-7 loss at South Carolina. The masses vented on social media, particularly Twitter, some taking personal attacks on players.
As if perspective hadn’t already been lost, the idiocy became magnified when it was learned that the father of quarterback Aaron Murray — one of the home’s tenants, with Robinson — had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and was about to undergo surgery.
“People can hide behind [fake screen names], especially when alcohol is involved,” Robinson said. “I understand people get emotionally involved. But you hope they realize that there are bigger deals in life than Georgia football, especially when you see something like what happened to Aaron’s father.”
The Athens police department will begin making frequent checks of players’ homes during road games. It’s sad that it has come to this, especially on a college campus.
Sports sociologist Jay Coakley, author of “Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies,” believes a number of factors have combined to embolden sports fans more than ever, including: a growing belief that they can affect the outcomes of games with crowd noise, increased ticket prices that grow their sense of involvement; and the growing platforms for their opinions, including message boards, blog commenting and sports talk radio.
“There is a sense of entitlement, but it goes beyond that,” Coakley said from his home in Colorado Springs. “It’s also a sense that you can get away with it. I don’t want to blame it all on talk radio, but those narratives have become pretty extreme. The boundaries for what’s acceptable and what’s not have been pushed, even to the point of egging the home of your own quarterback.”
When asked for a solution, Coakley said it would help if athletes, particularly on college campuses, were less sheltered from the public and allowed to make an off-the-field connection with fans. He added, “It also would be nice if somebody in the stands stood up and said, ‘This is is not acceptable.’ Point people out. Maybe the message would start to get across.”
The Athens eggers have not been caught. Robinson laughed when asked what he would like to see happen to them if they ever were brought to justice.
“I think if they ever get caught, just the public knowing who did that would be worse punishment than anything else,” he said. “They would be complete social outcasts. That would be enough.”
By Jeff Schultz
•
New York Times Bestsellers! (OK, not quite, but…)
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• Video blog: Are Falcons (5-0) really better than before?
• Radakovich says Johnson is ‘right person for job’
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• Falcons are easy highlight in Atlanta’s dark sports weekend
• Short takes: Gonzalez, Bryant and missing RG3 in Falcons’ win
• Braves’ Frank Wren needs to fix good, but not great, team
• Chipper Jones on loss in his finale: ‘Ultimately, I’m to blame’
• Spurrier should take a lesson from Richt on handling criticism
• Chipper Jones: Braves lose legend, fans lose hero, I lose reason to open laptop
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432 comments Add your comment
catlady
October 13th, 2012
4:19 pm
If you can’t get sweet tea there, you are NOT in the South! That goes for you, too, Texas A n M!
tripwire
October 13th, 2012
4:23 pm
I do know that over the years after playing UGA and winning, our vehicles were damaged by UGA fans. We were out numbered and security looked the other way. This is great for recruiting when you are attacked by your own fans.
dogegoneit
October 13th, 2012
4:30 pm
throwing trash on the field was very ok in my book…… Show me another video with the a stupid call like that and I’ll retract my statement. what a dumb arsh call!
Disgusted
October 13th, 2012
5:16 pm
Frustrtion– I am frustrated with our local teams but no excuse for that kind of behavior — especially toward college athletes.
Disgusted
October 13th, 2012
5:17 pm
MLB has to get control of its umpires who think they are above the game.
Those guys have no integrity — MLB would be one sport that could manage better with replacement UMPS.
I want to be an UMP at every Braves game & would take care of my boys.
Disgusted
October 13th, 2012
5:19 pm
I hate to knock college athletes but UGA is going to underachieve as long as Richt is the head coach.
He is good but not great — cannot win in the SEC.
DawgNole
October 13th, 2012
5:29 pm
catlady
October 13th, 2012
4:16 pm
Does anyone else think Mizzou is about ready to admit they are not SEC caliber, and that they are not located in the Southeast? They need to crawl back to the Midwest where they belong!
______________________
I don’t think they’re about to admit it, but they certainly SHOULD.
clock stoppa
October 13th, 2012
5:29 pm
@catlady
Does anyone else think Mizzou is about ready to admit they are not SEC caliber, and that they are not located in the Southeast? They need to crawl back to the Midwest where they belong!
______________________
most people think UGA should crawl over to the ACC where they belong!
Grand Daddy Reg
October 13th, 2012
5:39 pm
Hey folks…look at me here. No alcohol, no bottle throwing and no rioting. Connect the dots. Journalism 101. We all know the policy on beverage sales at sporting events. Anybody suggesting stopping the
selling of adult beverages ( a misnomer ) at a game will be subjected to immediate arrest for instigating civil disobdience. So nothing will change. Drunken fans will continue to behave like drunken fans. So, lets keep writing about it and discussing it and trying to pretend that it going to matter.As my friend Puck
was fond of saying : ” What fools these mortals be.”.
brick
October 13th, 2012
5:46 pm
Good think Twitter wasn’t around when Odell was still at UGA and some fan was trying to call him out, would have gotten ugly real quick
5150 UOAD
October 13th, 2012
6:00 pm
Mizzou in the the SEC cause they are a better Educational Institution and the SEC was scared of West Virginia.
5150 UOAD
October 13th, 2012
6:01 pm
brick
October 13th, 2012
5:46 pm
Good think Twitter wasn’t around when Odell was still at UGA and some fan was trying to call him out, would have gotten ugly real quick
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Who would ODELL get to Read and Write on twitter for him?
dagnabit
October 13th, 2012
6:27 pm
For bubba. I was raised in a trailer with an outhouse and most nights all we had was beans for supper. Our absentee father and you may have a lot in common.
BigMoGator
October 13th, 2012
7:36 pm
So Sergeant Schultzie points to 2 incidents to say “revolts” are “out of control.
Last week there were more than 50 Div 1 football games
Last week there were more than 40 FBS games
In the last 2 weeks there were more than 12 MLB games
More than a dozen soccer games
And so you have 2 incidents- 1 perhaps that can best be described a protest, not a revolt – because mind you, no one stormed the field, no arrests, no assaults.
And it’s “out of control”
Schultzie, you used to screaming fire in a crowded movie house.
Dumbest post ever
UGAFans=classeless rednecks
October 13th, 2012
7:36 pm
Enough said.
UGAFans=classless rednecks
October 13th, 2012
7:37 pm
Enter your comments here
JoeFan
October 13th, 2012
7:49 pm
Do whatever it takes to ban the consumption of alcohol at games. It only adds to the bad behavior, and ultimately makes those who have reached the intoxicated level a danger to themselves and others before, during and after the game.
Trae
October 13th, 2012
8:31 pm
JoeFan, you must not be a drinker, because if you were, you would know that it was impossible to get a drink at the wild card play-in game because the line was an hour long. Folks weren’t drunk, they were pissed. And they were justifiably pissed.
5150 UOAD
October 13th, 2012
8:56 pm
JoeFan there is not Drinking ALLOWED at College Games inside the stadium. How you gonna stop drinking before the games?
Smarticus
October 13th, 2012
11:36 pm
This whole “rolling and egging” thing is a red herring.
The real issue is the incompetent coaching staff of Mark Richt, Bobo, Grantham, Garner, Friend, and the other embiciles.
These players have let the Bulldog Nation down. On national TV, no less. So what if a fan rolls Murray’s yard because he absolutely cannot win a game against a competent team?
The real problem is named Mark Richt. The blind homers have divided the Bulldog Nation.
It is time that these talented players have some competent coaches.
How long must this BS go on?
wreckmaniac
October 14th, 2012
12:12 am
When pitchers are paid salaries equal to the GNP of Equador, when networks bet their entire future on a 5 year NBA contract, when fathers move their sons to another school just to play for a better football team, when Dion Sander’s broken toe generates weeks of daily newspaper injury reports, when perfectly good 20 year old stadiums are torn down to build better ones, when parking for a Braves game costs $40.00 then we know we have gone too far and that our society is sick and warped.
Zach Mettenburger
October 14th, 2012
12:20 am
Hey I just did what Aaron Murray has never done. beat a top ranked team and Beat South Carolina…. miss me yet bulldog fans?
DawgNole
October 14th, 2012
12:25 am
wreckmaniac
October 14th, 2012
12:12 am
When pitchers are paid salaries equal to the GNP of Equador, when networks bet their entire future on a 5 year NBA contract, when fathers move their sons to another school just to play for a better football team, when Dion Sander’s broken toe generates weeks of daily newspaper injury reports, when perfectly good 20 year old stadiums are torn down to build better ones, when parking for a Braves game costs $40.00 then we know we have gone too far and that our society is sick and warped.
_______________________
True enough–regrettably.
DawgNole
October 14th, 2012
12:27 am
Zach Mettenburger
October 14th, 2012
12:20 am
Hey I just did what Aaron Murray has never done. beat a top ranked team and Beat South Carolina…. miss me yet bulldog fans?
______________________
Nope. And what top-ranked team did you beat? Sure as hell wasn’t SC.
Just in....well not just in...but
October 14th, 2012
1:32 am
LSU 23, SC 21
Ha! Every freaking year Spurrier starts off with 5 or 6 wins over nobodies then tanks. I said it last week.
SC LOST, TN LOST, MO LOST, FL ATL LOST, BUFFALO LOST….every team GA has played lost today. Buffalo killed, FL Atl killed, MO killed.
FIRE NICE BOY RICHT NOW.
Thomas Brown 5 yrs of losing every ranked team 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
October 14th, 2012
6:10 am
Zach Mettenberger, against the same South Carolina defense Aaron Murray did NOTHING against, drove LSU up and down the field on South Carolina, exactly as I stated all week before the 2 teams played last night on national TV for us all to see.
Zach Mettenberger’s 1st Drive was 16 plays for 68 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 2nd Drive was 5 plays for 24 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 3rd Drive was 13 plays for 33 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 4th Drive was 6 plays for 30 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 5th Drive was 9 plays for 69 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 8th Drive was 16 plays for 75 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 9th Drive was 5 plays for 17 yards.
Zach Mettenberger’s 10th Drive was 1 play for 50 yards.
Zach Mettenberger did so much better than Aaron Murray, as to make the point that as a Starting Quarterback at LSU Zach Mettenberger has a Win against a team who makes the Top 25, while Aaron Murray as our Starting Quarterback has a 0-10 against teams who make the Top 25. Aaron Murray also has 2 Losses to teams who did not make the Top 25, while again, Zach Mettenberger has none.
406 yards of Offense led by Zach Mettenberger against the same defense who shut-out Aaron Murray.
224 yards of Offense led by Aaron Murray last week against the same defense Zach Mettenberger drove the football up and down the field on.
Indydawg
October 14th, 2012
7:19 am
Sports sociologist Jay Coakley, author of “Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies,” believes a number of factors have combined to embolden sports fans more than ever, including: a growing belief that they can affect the outcomes of games with crowd noise, increased ticket prices that grow their sense of involvement; and the growing platforms for their opinions, including message boards, blog commenting and sports talk radio.
———————————————————————————————————————
And yet Jeff, you failed to mention platforms that have been around for a while, like visual and print news media. It’s not just talk radio. You guys have to take some responsibility for this also, as well as giving credit to the culture that pumps potential athletes up from the time they are in elementary school. Over a period of time these kids cease to be viewed as real people and are perceived as detached from the rest of society.
I would also submit that there have been countless examples of lazy/poor/bad journalism. In fact, its an epidemic. You don’t have to do anything but listen to your average press conference to find that. Look at the headlines being written on athletes just this week. Look at the ones that have been written about UGA and GT when they’ve lost the past few weeks. Let’s get real now.
This appears to be the yearly “Fans should behave better article- while we want to make ourselves feel good, even though we’re part of the problem”.
Not surprised.
Thomas Brown 5 yrs of losing every ranked team 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
October 14th, 2012
7:24 am
Players of Mark Richt, both current players and former players, are speaking out on this football program right now. It is a common theme from them all that there is no leadership.
Indydawg
October 14th, 2012
7:25 am
Thomas Brown at 6:10am helps prove my point..
People want to get hyped up about a 21-22 year old, instead of a 50 year old coach who’s making 3.5 million dollars a year and should be holding some accountablity with himself and the staff.
And then the kid’s house gets egged…
Unreal
Mobile Dawg
October 14th, 2012
8:10 am
Are you saying it should have been Richts house that was egged and rolled?
fred
October 14th, 2012
8:13 am
Gators beat SC in the Swamp next week, then take care of UGA to clinch the SEC East before the end of October!!
You saw it here
October 14th, 2012
8:24 am
Early Prediction for SEC. FL vs Bama, Bama in a blowout. Bama plays Oregon. This time, no controversy (remember Auburn player looking to sideline for direction after he knew his wrist touched the grass), Bama by 9.
Yet, another NC for the Crimson Elephants.
fred
October 14th, 2012
8:27 am
Saban vs Spurrier will be a classic.
GT
October 14th, 2012
8:31 am
Spurrier has got to have the toughest schedule in the country. Now he goes to the Swamp. The only team they missed in this three weeks was Alabama.
LSU worn em down. Best offensive lineman in college football. Best night crowd in college football. That place use to be dangerous when they had nothing. They are young and talented, what they don’t get this year they will continue to improve and get later. Don’t see how Florida beat them, but the Swamp is pretty close to Death Valley. Miles is as fun to watch as Spurrier, lots of personality.
Next week South Carolina may hand back the title to Georgia, but some of the best games of the years came from Gcocks. They are SEC football at its finest as is LSU. The coaches making it fun, but keeping it real.
You saw it here
October 14th, 2012
8:31 am
This just in. GSU wins a game. HA! 1-6 now. Every game has been a blowout.
Thomas Brown 5 yrs of losing every ranked team 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
October 14th, 2012
8:32 am
_______________________________________
“Thomas Brown at 6:10am helps prove my point.”
_______________________________________
If you think 6:10 am is about Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger, you’re as much a dolt as Mark Richt for attaching his $ 3 million dollar annual salary to Aaron Murray.
Thomas Brown 5 yrs of losing every ranked team 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
October 14th, 2012
8:35 am
______________________________________________________________
“Are you saying it should have been Richts house that was egged and rolled?”
______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
2 wins in 18 games vs teams who made top 25 current 5-year Period
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
3 wins in 17 games vs teams who made top 10 entire Mark Richt era.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
http://www.sicemdawgs.com/2012/10/mark-richt-georgia-6-15-record-vs-ranked-opponents-since-2008/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sicemdawgscom+%28Sicemdawgs.com%29
No, it is Mark Richt’s contract which should be cancelled and bought-out by Greg McGarity before he faces Alabama 2013 having Lost his Entire Defense and 2 Starting Wide Receivers.
Mike Franklin
October 14th, 2012
8:46 am
Sports is – and always has been – a kind of vent for anger and frustrations. The worst modern example is the game of soccer. In Europe and South America, riots are a regular occurrence. Up until the last decade-or-so, American sports had been (mostly) free of these kinds of displays but… as we become more and more secular with less and less moral fabric, this kind of thing will likely become more widespread.
But now, on the flipside… that was a horrible call during the Braves game. My moral fiber would have done well with seeing the umps soaked good in beer from the stands, lol.
saban never sleeps
October 14th, 2012
9:33 am
Does this article classify as more whining by the Leg Humpers? throwing a few bottles onto the field and tossing a fews eggs is nothing. Just wait til they throw Bricks through you window or hang you in effigy (Bill Curry). A simple solution is to win or at least look good in losing, to work 365 and 24/7 on the goal of being the national champs.
Dawg Poop
October 14th, 2012
9:38 am
Speaking of morons, Ansel First? Now moving on, I’ve never attended a game where I didn’t see a lunatic, ESP drunk ones.
hit a single
October 14th, 2012
9:40 am
I am not surprised by the fans anger. We have produced a society where people don’t give a damn as long as they have there say and get their way no matter how they get it. Parents lie for their kids now, pride is a lost art, responsiblity is no longer in our vocabulary. A bunch of spoiled brats are we!
Predictor
October 14th, 2012
9:44 am
What do you expect from a Penal Colony?
sheepdawg
October 14th, 2012
10:11 am
they are games, played by teenagers. they should not be associated with our schools and education system in any manner. that some georgians cannot grasp reality is a surpirse? look at the idiots they elect to lead them!!
Nurse Ratched [aka Randal Patrick McMurphy]
October 14th, 2012
10:13 am
“My church (and it’s definitely a Christian church) uses the terms CE more often than AD. Times change. God is dynamic and has shown himself to be throughout history.”
This is about sport… keep Skyy Daddy out of this… cognitively sick miscreant…
“And the Dish ran away with the Spoon…”
Game Changer
October 14th, 2012
10:18 am
Enter your comments here
Game Changer
October 14th, 2012
10:32 am
C Robinson plays with alot of heart, works very hard — but is not a D1 level linebacker. C Robinson has run his mouth for years now while at UGA and loves to talk smack to reporters etc., for this he has opened himself up to the public for his STUPID STATEMENTS AND VERY POOR LEVEL OF PLAY ON THE FIELD.
Answer: Closed you mouth C Robinson and stop with the twitter or whatever you are doing to draw attention to yourself of the field. TYPICAL KID THAT FEELS ENTITLED TO HIS VOICE BUT NO ONE ELSE CAN COMMENT.
Jeff Schultz: BUTTS MEHRE IS ON FIRE but not a one of the ajc reporters will do any investigative work and do true reporting, WHY IS THAT:
HERE IS NEWS FOR YOU SO CALLED AJC SPORTS WRITERS, auburn’s 2012 season starting QB will be transferring to ARKANSAS STATE to play for Malzone (sp.)
Here is questions that need answering: Why and Who has forced the removal of Michael Adams and why is a over 2 million payment being made to keep M Adams quiet?
What bank held over 35 million in deposits of UGA Athletic Department money and was drawing less than 3% interest? Did former governor and any of the board of regents actual recieve illegal perks in regards to this money —
You see J Schultz — all kinds of VERY INTERESTING ARTICLES are possible but ajc writers will not step up — AJC REPORTERS ARE EQUIVALENT TO UGA’S MARK RICHT AND COACHING STAFF, LAZY BUT DO JUST ENOUGH TO GET BY!!!!!!!
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
October 14th, 2012
10:58 am
@dawg talker and Kerryb…you two folks are pitiful at best. Your Alabama envy is killing you. Just accept 1980 as all you got and that will not change. Take away Atlanta and Georgiee is Mississippi without the goodl looking gals.
UGA the best college football team in America from March until August…then you suck as usual.
Pitbull
October 14th, 2012
11:09 am
I think that the media makes the problems larger with their blog message boards, and sports talk radio contributes to the problem too. Sports talk radio often reminds me of the politial hate talk I hear on a cetain a m station in atlanta that used to be news, weather, and sports – but not sports talk.
Also I think that the younger generations are becoming more entitled in their attitudes towards life and they do not recognize boundries for decent behavior anymore. This will of course fall on deaf ears, but when they go to far testing the boundries and serve a stretch in jail for their behavior that will be a more valuable educational experience than school.
I call it social Darwinism. Those without the sense to live lives of self control end up self destructing and the rest of us are the better off for it.
It is a shame that these spoiled brats have to put a damper on what otherwise is a wonderful sport. The players are much better behaved than the fans.
It happens throughout the world. Look at the soccar riots that are intentionally started by a handful of fans before, during and after games. A very sad commentary on humanity.
The Old Coot
October 14th, 2012
11:16 am
I read blogs like this and am reminded of just how ugly humanity is.
What happened to you people that made you so angry and hateful?
hit a single
October 14th, 2012
11:48 am
What do we expect when our Vice President was so rude and unprofessional in the debate the other night. Lack of class and embarrassing.