Fans at the Vanier Cup (yep, i'm complaining about something)

Hey guys,

Went to the game this afternoon (scrambled to get there actually because well.... thought the game was at 7, noticed at about 1159 that it was at 1... fun fun)

had a great time, loved seeing the two fan bases and their great energy through the game....
had some fun chatting with other random cat fans through the game that were just there for the football (and free tickets from renewals) also had a great time cheering for the Ontario team.

(and before i go on, the TL; DR version is "there were some jerks, nothing was done about it")

BUT

I did have an issue with a quartet of western fans in my section. They showed up after half time, and proceeded to douche out for the rest of the game.

Saying for the most part terrible things. Each thing in and of itself wasn't so bad... ("go the eff home" "why are you even playing" "french effing pu**ies" "too slow should get some more blacks" ) okay some things were worse than others. Bad enough, but the thing that bothered me was that there was no attempt at humour in any of it. (although they sure seemed to think there was, dismissing this as "chirps")

(full disclosure, I'm a yeller at games, I like it, its part of the game, I try not to swear. Not always successful, but there's always an attempt to entertain the crowd, not just berate the players/refs)

But it got to the point near the end of the fourth where one couple had had enough and got the attention of the Hamilton police that were there for security.

Here's where my complaint comes in. Not only did this couple have to point out this group twice (second time face to face) to the officers, and ask that this group be removed, the answer they were given was "well I didn't hear any of that, so I can't do anything." Despite confirmation from other fans in the area.

As soon as the cops left this quartet set in swearing at the couple again.

Husband left to grab the police again, who stood in the aisle (surprise surprise the taunting and looks stopped.)

Game clock winds down, police leave, the attention starts up again.

I've had enough, I loudly announce that the couple seem like nice enough ticat fans, that they don't deserve this attention, and that I think I'll sit beside them for the rest of the game (between them and their now abusers). The four then scurried off.

This wouldn't happen at a Ticats game. If anything Ticat security is a touch trigger happy, but this was ridiculous.

I'm not sure what I expect to come of this, but I appreciate the read, and the chance to vent.

Were you in sec 103? Very tall guys?

Just one more example that "education" doesn't equal "smart". Or the impolite version - you can't fix stupid.

113

"This wouldn't happen at a Ticats game. If anything Ticat security is a touch trigger happy, but this was ridiculous. "

You were on their turf. Being it was a college event one should expect a different breed of revellers. Students party different than we old guys. They just aren't grown up yet. And the police know that. Unless fan action can develop into real trouble, the cops give them room. I'd be fun to be young and carefree again, wouldn't it? "When in Rome expect them to do as the Romans do."

T'was an exciting game, it was. All the kids done well.

naw… argument doesn’t hold water there.

I’m not on campus, or on their field, if anything they’re on my turf. haha. That said, that behaviour wouldn’t fly at a CIS “stadium” either.

maybe if we were in the student sections, or if they were all students, but one of them was easily 40+.

As for “real trouble” once the complaint was made, their focus turned exclusively on the couple. I was actually a bit worried about their well being from that point on. Hence the passive intervention.

I was not arguing. I was offering some honest insight however if you can’t even understand the broader meaning of “turf” as it relates to an event that is mainly a “university student” party well…

Attendance 10,000, incl 1, 40ys+? Geez, you think I was making a weak argument? “one of them was 40+” LOL

did you read the original post? honestly, for the most part it was a great party.

this was about one group of 4, and about how they acted, and subsequently were handled poorly.

I was sitting 3 rows behind the offenders in 113 and with my hood up to fight the cold and wind I didn’t hear or see a problem until the 4 police officers came over. I did hear off-colour and unsportsman like comments from somewhere behind me (a male), and a woman who was quite loud and vocal but I couldn’t make out what she was shouting (not even if it was in English or French:-))

The offenders did act up again when the officers started to exit but stuck around when the male complaintent attracted their attentive again. The officers stayed as I exited to the concourse so I don’t know what happened after that.

Ironic was the bearded, bald, middle-aged man who was continually walking around 113 socializing but was quite wasted and even hanging around the police when the above incident occurred. He exited thru the tunnel as the police confronted the above offenders but IMO was pressing his luck the way he was hanging around the officers. Not belligerent or rowdy but a “friendly? drunk. Must have cost a fortune consuming all that beer!!!

ya, he took a pretty good tumble later on, not sure if you stuck around for that.

(not gonna lie, we initially thought he was the reason the cops showed up)

That racist crap has no place in the stands regardless of age. I applaud you for sticking around. This kind of crap infuriates me.

I get why the officer did nothing initially. After all, it could just as easily be a sour grapes trying to spoil the party. That said, if other witnesses said “Hey no, these guys are being jerks” and they were clearly intoxicated, It’s hard for me to side with this kind of indifference.

The officer should have said “Boys, I’m giving you the option to either move to empty seats elsewhere or move outside the stadium. This is not happening a third time, are we clear?” and let them make their own beds.

Worst case scenario, you have the complaints of four drunks getting kicked out the stadium. Like that has never has happened at a sporting event.

[b]"naw... argument doesn't hold water there.

I'm not on campus, or on their field, if anything they're on my turf. haha. That said, that behaviour wouldn't fly at a CIS "stadium" either.

maybe if we were in the student sections, or if they were all students, but one of them was easily 40+.

As for "real trouble" once the complaint was made, their focus turned exclusively on the couple. I was actually a bit worried about their well being from that point on. Hence the passive intervention."[/b]

Whether it was on a university campus, or in this case a CFL stadium, there is a standard of behaviour that should be expected from ANY adult, student or otherwise.

If the CIS expects the general public to attend and support their sporting events, then they need to do a much better job of securing a proper environment for ALL.

A while back, I took my family to an argo game at Skydome. There was a guy directly behind us using foul language in a loud voice. I was concerned for my children, and others around us.

After hearing this for sometime, I went to an usher so that we could change our seats. She insisted on speaking with this person. After relocating us, the usher not only addressed the loud, but removed him.

Kudos to them.

I’m all for some good shi*t talk but jeez, how hard is it to leave the racism out of it? Maybe that’s what some fans resort to when they don’t actually know anything?

The guy next to me at the bar said he was cheering for western ‘because f*** the French’ - really? They must produce more high level Canadian talent for our league than every other province. This crap is only going to drive younger (and especially non-white) fans away.

I was with my brother-in-law who came to the game after a nighttime shift (no sleep) and he was pretty much out of it so we left with 3 minutes remaining. Would like to have stayed for the ceremony but we knew how it ended. We were curious about the “rowdies” situation we witnessed and how the “socializing” drunk worked out.

Funny situation as we were leaving THF and walking down Balsam. A couple was walking towards us and the woman (“artificially happy” but not really drunk :-)) was carrying a “Go Western” sign with lots of signatures on it. She stopped us and told us her son was a Western player (I wished I would have asked who) but I was a bit thrown off as she asked us to autograph her sign! We were in TiCat gear and definitely do not look like players but she wanted our autographs anyway. Happy for her so we signed :slight_smile:

It’s funny, it seems that racist taunts are the “lazy person’s” insult of choice. Honestly, the way a person looks or where they come from/language they speak/gender/cultural clothing worn is the best insult that they can come up with? If you feel you have to insult someone, how about using your brain to come up with something orginal and funny? Or, come up with an actual argument because “Oh yeah? Well you’re X” is not a rational response to anything.

Also, to your last point and as an aside, racism is not a white only matter. It exists in all cultures. Rampantly is some.