Saturday night we attended the Auburn versus Florida football game.
Just minutes after kickoff we realized we were in for a long game.
It wasn't because of the quarterback situation or the excessive penalties or really anything related to the actual game.
It was related to a person.
More accurately it was related to a bully.
Call them what you will: obnoxious, presumptuous, irritating or rude it all boils down to the same thing. Fans that misbehave with no one to keep them in check turn into bullies.
In our case it was this bully:
He was a Florida fan* sitting a few rows down from us and every time our team made a mistake...
...and yes, there were plenty of opportunities...
...he would stand up and turn around and yell at the Auburn fans.
Lest you think I'm blaming this on Florida in general please don't hear that.
I'm sure Auburn has just as many obnoxious fans as Florida does.
But this guy was bad.
So bad in fact that at one point he yelled at my six year old.
"Hey, little buddy! Did you see your kicker choke!"
It was something like that anyway.
"Is that guy talkin' to me?"
The dude thought he was quite clever.
He was really more interested in making fun of Auburn's mistakes than he was in cheering for Florida.
As the seconds were ticking off the clock to end the second quarter something quite interesting happened.
Help arrived in the form of these two gentlemen:
Now they had been sitting two rows down during the entire game.
Like all of us they had had enough.
Unlike all of us they decided to do something about it.
Blue shirt stood up and authoritatively said something like:
"We've had enough. You need to sit down."
The bully responded with "I'll stand up if I want to! It's a free country!"
At this point blue shirt very calmly said "You're either going to sit down or I'm going to make you sit down!"
He wanted to fight!
So, of course the grown up part of me wanted to find the authorities.
But...
Another part of me was gleefully thinking "Fight, Fight, Fight!"
The bully began to bluster and say "I can say whatever I want! I paid for this ticket!"
He continued his rant with "Oh, I'll do it! I'll go outside!"
"Come on then! Let's go outside!"
What transpired next was quite beautiful.
Let's watch shall we:
Blue Shirt: "Quit saying you will and come on! I'm not going to have you come into our house and disturb all these people. Let's go outside right now."
Blue shirt began to walk down the aisle. The bully continued to bluster but stayed where he was.
Bully: "I could! I just don't want to leave my seat!"
Blue Shirt: "Okay then, I offered to settle it and you refused. You better sit down now. "
And the bully sat down!
He sat down!
Clapping and Cheering from the entire section.
I'm happy to report he didn't stand up again during the entire 3rd quarter.
He did begin to cheer again during the fourth quarter but only when Florida did well.
Well done blue shirt!
He won!
It was pretty awesome.
By the end of the fourth quarter we had won.
In more ways than on the scoreboard.
____________________________________________
*No jorts were harmed during this blog.
OOOOOO what a weenie! The nerve talking to a kiddo that way. See, this is how I get into fusses at games. But it is usually the bad fans representing my school that get me going quicker than the opposing teams jerks. I just can't stand for folks embarrassing us that way ;)
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting story about an unfortunate event. It's a wonder things didn't turn violent, though. If something like that happens in the future, you might consider using the security texting service Auburn setup 2 years ago. ESPN did a story on it here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4603176
ReplyDeleteIt's a much more hands-off way to deal with jerks in the stadium.
We were in sec 54 and heard all the commotion, saw the "offender" but had no idea what was going on. Hate when any "fan" for any team makes the game experience a bad one for folks who actually care.
ReplyDeleteElvis,
ReplyDeleteHad they actually gone downstairs I definitely would have called it in. I've heard the stories of how bad these things can turn out. I'm all about hands off ways to deal with jerks.
I love that he is wearing a tank top jersey. It is like a UF fan stereotype combo. You are one pair of jorts away from the Florida trifecta.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes...the jorts. So if LSU fans smell like cornbreads and Florida fans wear jorts what are we guilty of?
ReplyDeleteSo, no profanity, no vulgarity and some Auburn "All In" fan sold him that seat, and he gets threatened to get beat up? Who's the Bully? Wouldn't it have been more "Auburn-ish" to ask in the "friendliest village on the plains" tone to simply tone it down. Perspective is everything unless ignored.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I see your point. However, many people had nicely asked him to tone it down. I'd also like to point out again that blue shirt was very calm during the whole time - no shouting or yelling. It wasn't like he was this poor maligned Florida fan amongst a sea of Auburn people. There were plenty of Florida people there that were all saying 'that guy needs to sit down.'
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm going to say a few more things about this:
ReplyDelete#1 The guy knew I was taking his picture. At one point he said something to me along the lines of 'go on and take it!' He knew how out of line he was being.
#2 As far as the 'threatening to beat him up' thing. I'm not sure if the pictures do it justice but the bully was a pretty 'built' guy - big arms at least. It's not like he was some wimp.
And #3 Stay off Auburn sites ya Bammer!
I'm kidding on that last part.
Sort of.
No really I'm kidding.
I should stop now.
Never, ever, ever pay any attention to an "anonymous" comment!!!!
ReplyDeleteHey that's my friend who stood up to the "bully". Knowing my friend, good thing that guy sat down. He is a die hard Auburn fans and just wants everyone to enjoy the game without stupid people ruining it for everyone.
ReplyDeleteIn defense of the Florida fan, this guy may have not been ready for a fight, but if a spontaneous basketball game would have broken out in JHS, he was suited up and ready to go...
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, this is the best form of justice that could have happened out of all of the options:
Option #1: He gets his butt kicked - While this would have undoubtedly been humiliating, there is no reason for anyone to actually get hurt at a sporting event that is supposed to be fun. Additionally, he would have probably convinced himself that he was a victim in the whole situation.
Option #2: Someone texts security and he gets kicked out of the game - He would have just gotten kicked out. They really had no legitimate reason to send him to jail. This is actually the most favorable outcome for him because he wouldn't have to witness his team get beaten and he would have told everyone he knows how no one would stand up to him.
Option #3: What happened - No one gets hurt. No one gets kicked out. No one goes to jail. His ego is severely bruised. He witnesses Auburn beat his Gators (yet again). Best of all, he has to drive all the way back to where ever he came from thinking about the loss and what a wussy, punk, idiot he is.
Finally, to the anonymous bammer, it is "loveliest village on the plains", not the friendliest.
First off the second he spoke to one of the kids in that manner, I would have served him up a can of whoop ass. 2nd: To Anonymous: when you are the visiting team and you are lucky enough to score a ticket in the hme teams section the very least you could do, IF YOU WERE RAISED RIGHT,is act accordingly. This get was begging for an ass whooping and he's darn lucky that he was dealing wth a classy Auburn fan. Btw Anon. The author of this blog is nothing but class. When they need a little ugly they call me. Roll Tide!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love you Kathy: Thats awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI love all these comments. Its better than being there.
ReplyDelete