What it's like to be the ROAD fan

[BB61]

I've only been the "enemy" once. My girlfriend (from Norfolk, VA, and not really a fan of any team in particular) and I went to the Nats - Phillies game at RFK last Saturday (when the Nats won 5-4 in the 12th, beginning the Phillies 5-game losing streak).

We sat in the highest level (521), and there were a few scattered Phillies fans around, although we saw a few more coming into town on the Metro. There were a good deal of them in the stadium as a whole, as we heard a decent sized cheer whenever the Phils got a hit. We were talking to the couple behind us, one Nats fan and one Red Sox fan. Very nice people, and they were baseball fans, which is why we got along, I think.

About the sixth inning, we noticed a group of Phillies fans congregate about a section down (400 level) and start up Phillies cheers, to which they were booed down each time. There was also more than a few "E! A! G! L! E! S! EAGLES!" cheers, because we're notorious for doing them at other events, sporting or otherwise. That drew a few "huhs?" from the crowd, and a few angry comments about this being the wrong sport.

By the 10th inning, my girlfriend saw me eyeing those fans, and she asked me if I wanted to go sit with them, and I said, "okay, sure". So we walked down and joined a group of about 20 college-age kids, mostly from the Lancaster area and a few from Northeast Philly (some of whom where slightly innebriated) cheering for the Phillies. We had a ball, standing the whole time, yelling "Let's go Phillies!" at the top of our lungs, and playfully bantering and heckling back and forth with the DC fans about their 0.95 ERA closer and how he gave up three runs, and about how badly the Redskins would do this year (and heckling them about their crap fight song... well, it is!).

At one point, there was a kid of 10 or 11 who turned around and was yelling at us, and my girlfriend, who had been quiet up to this point, yelled back, "MY DAD CAN BEAT UP YOUR DAD!!" That's why I love her so.

Even though we lost, it was the greatest time I'd ever had attending a sporting event, and I've been to a lot. A few of the Nats fans we were going back and forth with shook our hands at the end of the game, each wishing us good luck, and we were talking to a few Nats fans in the Metro on the way back to my girlfriend's campus who were very nice.

So, at least we know that Nats fans are cool. They seem to be happy just to have a team.

[BBTV]

Some guy in Pittsburgh (not the most economically sound part of PA) was giving me a hard time about the Eagles, and getting a little personal, so being the smart a** that I am, I asked back (in a totally calm voice) "why do you have so much pent up anger in you? Did you recently get laid off? I guess I'd be angry all the time too if I didn't have a job." The guy just shut up. Turns out he did just get laid off.

No offense, but I'm getting the vibe that you are really judgmental of people who "aren't economically sound." Do you hate poor people?

I went to a Pens game two years ago at Mellon Arena. They were playing the Red Wings, and all the turncoat Pittsburghers made me feel like a visitor in my own teams' arena. I actually got heckled for wearing a Lemieux jersey. Astonishing.

No, not at all.

If you are refering to my earlier post about Eagles fans, and my last post about that one Steelers fan, I could see where you get that vibe from, but that isn't the case. My opionions about the Eagles fans really have less to do with their economic situation (which I couldn't care less about) and more to do with their low class thuggish behavior. It just so happens that in the cases that I witness and deal with on a weekly basis, the two have gone hand-in-hand. That doesn't mean that some highly-educated well-to-do people don't act in a boorish and dispicable manner. I think maybe the difference is that some people have more to lose than others, and maybe think twice before doing anything that could (should) result in jail time.

As for Pittsburgh, I was just stating that it isn't an area with a booming economy, and I know that the job market isn't what it is in other cities. I know because I've been in that job market, and area. I actually really like Pittsburgh, but if a guy tries to get personal with me, I'll get personal right back. For all I knew the guy was a doctor or stock broker or something.

Not everyone in Pittsburgh is poor, and I wouldn't even go as far as to call it depressed or anything like that. Actually, my friends who make less than half what I do are living better lives, being that they can own their own houses and support families on a relatively small income. So in reality, I'm the poor one.

[OMMF]

Every two years, I'm a visitor in my hometown when the Apple Cup is played here. It really isn't that bad. One year though, in Pullman, I went with a group of friends from Seattle and the only seats we could get were in the Husky section. So there I was, the lone crimson jersey in a sea of purple and gold. Most of the sniping between the two groups takes place hours, weeks, days before the game. There never seems to be too much during, at least in my experience.

A few Bruins games in Vancouver and while the B's fans are few and far between we are very vocal so it's easy to find us. 3 years ago, the last time Boston came to town, we won 6-3 and once a lot of us realized where we were all sitting, we met up after the game to revel in our victory. I have to say that a lot of the trash-talking was going from me to them and not vice versa.

Worst city to be a visiting fan in? Portland, Oregon. Somethin' in the granola, I tells ya. *shakes fist*

[Pat]

I was the the Lions game yesterday. I got it bad! But it was all in the fun, I never felt "threatened" in any way. But man alive did I get ripped. And ripped bad. Those fans love nothing more than winning, and beating the Pack, while holding Favre and that Offense for 3 points they were insane. It was a great experience, and luckily there were a ton of Green Bay fans with me to take in the beating

[jkrdevil]

I went to a Yankees game at the Trop in August but that was like a home game at Yankee Stadium except the stadium sucked. They even had Yankee gear hanging in the windows of the souviener shops.

A few years ago I went to a Devils game in Buffalo. I also, have gone to some subway series games at Shea wearing Yankee stuff but again no problems as there were many Yankee fans. I've been to many other ballparks but never had rooting interest in the game. The 1 football game I went to at the Vet was an Army-Navy game.

[BBTV]

I went to a Yankees game at the Trop in August but that was like a home game at Yankee Stadium except the stadium sucked. They even had Yankee gear hanging in the windows of the souviener shops.

A few years ago I went to a Devils game in Buffalo. I also, have gone to some subway series games at Shea wearing Yankee stuff but again no problems as there were many Yankee fans. I've been to many other ballparks but never had rooting interest in the game. The 1 football game I went to at the Vet was an Army-Navy game.

Army/Navy is one of the best sporting experiences that anyone can have. I highly recommend attending one of these games. It is so much more than just a game, and despite the records of the two teams, the crowd is amazing. They even bring in bleacher seats to fill in the open corners of the Linc.

It is usually super cold, though.

[Grish]

NFL: DONT GO TO OAKLAND!!!! Never! You'll get beer spilled on you, get spit on, one guy got stabbed a few years ago, and much much taunting if not punches. Raiders fans suck.

and if you buy food you will never make it back to your seat with, unless you count it being on you.

[BBTV]

Does Oakland sell out now that the team has returned to the bay area? I know that in L.A. they rarely sold out the Coliseum.

[mac]

I went to see the bluejackets play Nashville, wore my rick nash third jersey and noone their cared.

[IronChefShark]

Does Oakland sell out now that the team has returned to the bay area? I know that in L.A. they rarely sold out the Coliseum.

no they don't. thier home games are constantly blacked out in the local market.

even after a 2-14 season, the 49ers manage to sell enough tickets to still be televised around here.

[-kj]

United Center, Chicago - I've been twice, once for a Dead Things/HackHawks game, and again for a Blues/HackHawks game. Both times I wore a Blues jersey. At the first game, on my way up the stairs (we had standing room tickets, but managed to find some seats in the nosebleeds), some guy gave me crap about being at the wrong game, but nothing else.

At the Blues/HHawks game, I went with a friend from Chicago who was wearing her Chelios jersey. It was the last game of the 1999/2000 season, the Blues had won the President's Trophy, and the Hawks still sucked. So, generally there was more dejection from the locals than any kind of animosities. However, at one point, there was a little grumbling behind us about me being there in my Blues jersey, and my friend turned around and uttered a classic line.

I have to tell the backstory first. She's a goalie, and also scorekept for the league she played in. She was working a game the week previous, and a puck went out of play by the benches, deflected off the wall, and made its way into the scorer's box--and nailed her in the eye. She suffered no real damage, but had a nice shiner.

So, back to the game and the moment. When she turned around, she said, "I wouldn't mess with him if I were you"... and pointed to her eye! I was in shock, thinking that she's just outed me as some sort of sick guy that beats up women. Luckily, it became obvious quickly that it was a joke, and all was cool. I still can't believe she did that.

Target Center, Minneapolis - Yeah, it doesn't count for much, but before I moved up here, I came up for an RHI game between the St. Louis Vipers and Minnesota Arctic Blast. Of course, I was decked out in Vipers regalia. They had a pre-game skate, and while I was skating around, some of the Vipers peeked out form the tunnel and chatted me up, and the coach even tossed me a puck. During the game, I sat behind the home bench, got a little heckling from the home fans and mascot (but nothing serious), and witnessed an ugly incident involving St. Louis players getting into the stands. (Ahh, the days of Frank LaScala...)

HHH Metrodome, Minneapolis - I've been to a couple of Cardinals/Twins interleague games since I moved up here. The first time was during the McGuire 70 season, so a lot of people were there specifically to see him. No issues, except for the guy giving out Homer Hankies before the game giving me a weird look, since I was wearing Cardinals gear.

Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul - I generally go to Wild games and root for the home team, but when the Blues come to town, their colours trump the Wild's. The rivalry between the teams has become more heated over the last couple of seasons, but generally there are no issues between fans. A lot of St. Louis fans either make the drive up or live nearby and come to the game when the boys in blue come to town.

Staples Center, Los Angeles - I happened to be in LA when the Wild took on the Kings. A friend who's a big Kings fan took me to the game, we sat kindof up high. For there to have been problems, people would have had to have been at the game and have cared about the game; it was kindof lame. I did get to witness a rare occasion--two penalty shots called in the same period (the first), one for each team.

Park University, Parkville, Missouri - This was actually a Kansas City Wizards home game. A bunch of Minnesota Thunder faithful, including myself, took a bus down to KC for the US Open Cup quarterfinal between the Wizards and Thunder. Since the Wiz have enough problems drawing crowds for regular season games, they had it at a 2,000-seater in the north part of town--and only drew 1,500. We had a great time, since the Thunder won 3-1, and represented well, in great voice. After the end of the game, however, some punk kid from KC decided to jump into our section and start throwing punches. Not much came from it, but I can now tell you that even just breathing in pepper spray fumes is nasty, and should be avoided at all costs. Thankfully, the only person led from the stadium in handcuffs was the afore-mentioned punk kid. (As an aside, if my boss would have let me have this coming Wednesday off, I'd be in LA for the semifinal. Damnit.)

Kemper Arena, Kansas City - Back in the winter of 1994, the Soviet Wings made a tour though the IHL. A friend of mine from St. Louis and I knew about the Wings, and he even had a Wings jersey. So, we drove to KC (he went to college an hour or so north of there), got second-row seats, and proceeded to cheer loudly for the Wings (who got drubbed something like 7-2). People around us were, unsurprisingly, confused. We got asked if we were from Russia, and I can't remember if it was he or I who said, "Well, we are from the east..."

I've also been to a few places as more-or-less a neutral:

- Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (Indianapolis Ice, IHL)

- Bradley Center, Milwaukee (Milwuakee Admirals, IHL)

- The Palace at Auburn Hills, suburban Detroit (Detroit Shock, WNBA; Detroit Vipers, IHL)

- Allstate Arena, suburban Chicago (Chicago Wolves, IHL)

- KeyArena, Seattle (Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL)

- SkyDome, Toronto (Toronto Argonauts, CFL)

- The Mark of the Quad Cities, Moline, Illinois (Quad City Mallards, CoHL)

Oh, and I saw Tennessee take on UConn in a women's NCAA regional final at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, where I was living at the time (I think it was 1997). However, I was wearing a Tennesssee hat, since I'd visited the campus while in high school, so I rooted for the Lady Vols. My friend I went with was rooting for UConn, since his girlfriend was planning to go to grad school there.

[bhambruiser]

I went to the Georgia-UAB game last year. Wearing my UAB Sweatshirt. For the most part the Georgia fans were nice. They kind of laughed at UAB at first...

while I was walking to the stadium some idiot students starting yelling crap at us. But after narrowly avoiding the upset that changed their tune a bit about UAB.

Georgia won 13-10, but man it was a dog fight. They were quiet nearly the whole time.

[Pat]

I went to see the bluejackets play Nashville, wore my rick nash third jersey and noone their cared.

Well I wonder why Those Preds fans are hard core! Theres nothing those crazy Nashville hockey fans love than beating the Blue Jackets!

[winghaz]

My dad and I used to go to Milwaukee every year to see the Twins play outdoors and the Brewers fans were great. Everything they said to us was good natured.

I second OnWis' comments about Brewers fans. I was at old County Stadium for a Twins-Brewers game and I wore my Twins cap. The Twins were doing well that year (1991) and the Brewers weren't.

The first thing that happened was being invited to tailgate parties in the parking lot even though nobody knew me. I lived in Bismarck, N.D., at the time, and I told people that I was from there, and they seemed impressed.

The second thing that happened was at the game and this guy and his kid were sitting next to me. The guy said he hoped the Twins would do well that year since the Brewers weren't doing anything. Then he told his kid, "See that team out there (the Brewers)? That's a lousy team."

Brewers fans are fun, funny and fun-loving. Just a great experience, and I haven't even mentioned the food.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

I saw the Jays play the Yankess at the Rogers Centre.... That's practically a road game.

I can relate. This has to do with Vanderbilt v Tennessee.

Sure, Vanderbilt's in Nashville. But the locals are front running Vol fans. That much I can understand. They're a better team.

However, when you're at Vanderbilt stadium, in Vanderbilt's student section, and you're being asked to sit down, because the Vol fans behind you can't see, and there's a Metro Nashville police officer backing up the Vol fans, that's just wrong.

A friend of mine asked the officer why, if he's providing security at a Vanderbilt event, that he's catering more to the supporters of the visiting team. He gave some smart-alecky comment about being a fan of his state more than a fan of his job.

And to this day, I will continue to contend that nothing sucks more than a Big Orange.

[VitaminD]

Rainmaker, I take no offense. But I need to try and shed some light, and not let BBTV get pummeled here.

As a fellow lifelong Philadelphian and diehard Eagles fan, I am acutely aware of our bad reputation. On one hand, I love the passion, and it intimidates fans of other teams. But I bristle at being thrown in with the very worst. Hell, I've seen Eagles fans fight OTHER Eagles fans almost as much as attacking other teams' fans. I bleed midnight green, and I enjoy a tailgate as much as the next, but every year the slippery slope gets worse. The reputation feeds on itself, and as is prone to happen with mob mentality, people try to outdo the "standard", so they can hear about it on 610 the next day or read about it in the paper. One of my friends has a cousin nicknamed "Banned For Life", because he got booted from the Vet and lost his season tickets. I love my Birds, but hate being seen as a thug because some of the lower-class (and BBTV's generally right about that; call me a snob if you want, but none of the physicians I work with piss on people's cars and throw mustard at Giants fans) ruffians see themselves as having license to assault strangers in the name of football.

In truth, the rest of the country hears about the lunatic fringe of Eagles Nation. We're passionate people starved for a winner, but not too many of us are psychotic or looking for a fight. The Vet was far worse, just like the Spectrum was far worse than the Wachovia Center. I saw grown men chanting at a 10-year old in a Mike Richter jersey until he cried at a Flyers game. That's way out of line.

What really irritates me are the yahoos on the air (and on these boards) who see an example of Philly's Phinest giving the city another black eye and immediately bringing up booing Santa Claus. It happened in 19-frickin'-72. Let it go. I've seen boorish behavior in St. Louis (at Blues games), Cleveland, New Orleans, New York... my point is, every team seems to have a pocket of bad fans. Stop harping on Philadelphia's.

As for being a road fan, I have gone into enemy territory wearing Philadelphia colors (Eagles, Flyers, Phillies) and other than a few snide comments, been treated pretty well. No fists thrown or anything. As such, I treat opposing fans with the same respect afforded me. I lived with a Rangers fan in college, and married a Giants fan. I deal with it OK.

[rainmaker17]

I was hoping you'd join this discussion, Vitamin.

Good insight on the Eagles fans. In no way do I think any team has 100% loutish fans. I've never set foot in the Linc, so I can't really comment, except for what my sister told me. I do know there have been incidents at Texas Stadium, but not every Eagles game I've been to has been that way, and I've been to a ton.

I was in Philly last month and shared a few beers with some fans at the airport bar. They ribbed me a little at first when I told them where I was from, which is fine, but after that we were like old college buddies...and bashed the 'Skins and Giants together. Brotherly love indeed.

[Breakwood]

Ah good ole North American road fans. I was in Cleveland for an Indians-Jays game and got in an argument with one guy, but it was all in good fun, everyone there was nice.

Now what I really wanna do is go to France and travel with the Lyon supporters to St. Etienne, for the Rhone derby, Away fans caged in so we can be hit with any flares or missiles.

[VitaminD]

I was hoping you'd join this discussion, Vitamin.

Glad to be here. Good topic.

I was in Philly last month and shared a few beers with some fans at the airport bar.  They ribbed me a little at first when I told them where I was from, which is fine, but after that we were like old college buddies...and bashed the 'Skins and Giants together.  Brotherly love indeed.

That might be the best thing about Philly fans. Since we tend to dislike/hate everyone, we can find common ground with almost anyone. Even Cowboys fans!!

[-kj]

Now what I really wanna do is go to France and travel with the Lyon supporters to St. Etienne, for the Rhone derby, Away fans caged in so we can be hit with any flares or missiles.

That's what I don't understand about the game in other places, really. That kind of crap just isn't necessary.