more mud on the bobcat name

[Platinumcat]

Another unfortunate story has surfaced regarding the Bison/Bobcat game.

Here's the story:

No class


My wife and I traveled 967 miles to take in the game in your city on Saturday, Sept. 24. It was a great game with a great college atmosphere, although just a bit cool. It was like two heavyweights throwing punches at each other. I thought we had the game when we scored in the fourth quarter, however the Bobcats were real gamers and put together a drive that started at their own 8 and drove the length of the field taking up lots of time and scored, not unlike drives that the Bison have put together over the years. We did make the end interesting, however the time ran out and a victory for the 'Cats. Good for your team. It was great memory.

However, another memory that I have is a young curly-haired lad with a long sleeve blue jersey with the gold Cat logo on it who seemed to think that it was his mission to taunt the Bison fans that Saturday afternoon. He would turn around and point when the 'Cats did something good and jeer us. When the 'Cats scored for the win, he turned around and gave us the good old profanity. What a fantastic football mind, what a fantastic 'Cat football fan. If that was not enough, two young people along the fence were giving raspberries to our team as they went into the locker room. They then proceeded to shove an elderly Bison fan. The scuffle was broken up by an official. Your team deserves better fans than this.

To compare -- two years ago we drove 1,168 miles to Missoula and watched our Bison beat the University of Montana in a come-from-behind win. I am sure this was a tough loss for the Griz fans, however upon leaving the stadium when fans saw my NDSU sweatshirt they congratulated me on our good team and a good game. I thought to myself, what a class act.

Now, then, I say that the Griz were a class act; the 'Cat fans have no class.

Roger and Sharon Parkhouse

Maple Grove, Minn.



It's too bad that our fan base has now been judged negatively due to the actions of a few uncharacteristic fans.

[WYCAT]

I guess if this man wants to base his opinion on a few individuals then have it. He met one nice griz fan and two bad cat fans and presto, we are bad fans and they are great. I am not condoning what happened but I think that is pretty naive.

[El_Gato]

Precisely. You see what you want to see when you go to any event with a mass of people.

I wonder if this Bison fan's mindset had anything to do with it? Think about it, would he have "noticed" the Cat fan he mentions if the Bison hold on for a win? Doubtful; would have been too excited to know or care.

When they won in Missoula, that's EXACTLY why they didn't "see" anything negative. They just knocked off the 800 lb gorilla and were sky high; not really likely to notice any negative griz fan antics at that point.

And any fan idiotic enough to bash an ENTIRE team's fan base because of a couple jerks (that exist at EVERY stadium in America) should quit going to games completely.

[GOKATS]

Precisely. You see what you want to see when you go to any event with a mass of people.

I wonder if this Bison fan's mindset had anything to do with it? Think about it, would he have "noticed" the Cat fan he mentions if the Bison hold on for a win? Doubtful; would have been too excited to know or care.

When they won in Missoula, that's EXACTLY why they didn't "see" anything negative. They just knocked off the 800 lb gorilla and were sky high; not really likely to notice any negative griz fan antics at that point.

And any fan idiotic enough to bash an ENTIRE team's fan base because of a couple jerks (that exist at EVERY stadium in America) should quit going to games completely.

[How-R-Yah-Bob]

Sorry to hear a few Cat fans acted in such a disgracefull manner. Anywhere you go to watch a football game with 13,000+ fans your bound to have a few bad apples. Thats just a fact, and it says nothing about most Cat fans. I get tired of hearing people piss and moan about an isolated incident suggesting it is a broader problem with the fans. It will not change no matter what anyone tries to do to stop a few fans from being classless, that is an element that will always be present anywhere a game is played.

[How-R-Yah-Bob]

Now my post looks like I was copying the three previous posts. I'm too slow at typing. I guess we all have the same sentiments on this subject. Boo hoo for the poor Bison fan who had a bad experience, but please don't throw egg in the face of all Cat fans for something that happens at every game everywhere in the country.

[HelenaCat95]

This story of course is troubling. Not just as a Cat fan, but as someone who believes that all people should be respected, and especially our elders. No way this should have happened - anywhere.

That being said, please don't add to the wrong that was committed by blaming all fans from one particular team. All the NDSU fans I saw at that game were fantastic. But I'm sure if I looked, I could have found one or two that was not one of North Dakota's finest citizens. This doesn't excuse or condone anyone's behavior - it shouldn't even explain it. All I'm saying is that these fans behavior does not represent the university or the overwhelming majority of Bobcat Fans.

On a much lighter note....there is a simple solution to eliminate problem fans (i.e., thugs) like those mentioned here. We should just do what Idaho State does and put them in a football uniform.

(just kidding)

[mchammer]

It's true that you can see bad behavior at any game, and that it's easier to dwell on it while overlooking the great fans among the crowd. And losing the game probably didn't help their attitude. But I am inclined to agree that many of our students do not show class.
For example, this morning I arrived at the fieldhouse to see the aftermath of our student's overnight wait to claim their Cat-Griz tickets. Garbage was strewn all over the steps to the fieldhouse, the sidewalk all the way to Grant street and then East toward the PE center entrance, and the surrounding grounds. It was absolutely filthy with several hundred cigarettes, beer cans and bottles, wine and whiskey bottles, and busted glass around the parking area. There was evidence of a fire, blankets and furniture left behind, doughnuts, pizza and you name it ground into the walk. There's more, but it's gross.
This isn't anything new, it happens every year. Some of our track athletes helped me clean it up in a few hours, close to 20 leaf bags filled to the top. The line was still in progress, literally stepping on the stuff as they moved forward. No one else offered to help. So I do think that we may have a problem with our student body. Maybe this is standard behavior and would have happened on any campus, but I wonder. I've picked this mess up more than one year. If we leave it on the ground the wind and crows take it all over the place. I can't stand the sight on this campus. But what's wrong with the students, no personal pride? No respect for the campus? Could they disrespect visiting fans? No question.

Mike Carignan

[BozoneCat]

We can keep making excuses and ignore the problem, or be proactive and try to do something about it. I don't care that similar incidents happen all over the country, we should try to make Bozeman and Montana State unique in this regard. If I see anyone acting like this, you can damn well bet I will say something to the offending party, in no uncertain terms.

Mike, first off I would like to thank you and your team for cleaning up the mess made by the students. It makes me proud to see people such as yourself take pride in our beautiful campus, and you can bet that had I been there, I would have helped.

A few years ago, they had similar problems at UM. To solve the problem, they moved the overnight wait into the fieldhouse. You had to be inside the fieldhouse by midnight, you couldn't drink or really do much of anything, and it was totally lame. I have no problem with students camping out and having a great time - in fact, I love it! That is what the Cat-griz rivalry is all about. I don't want to see that end. But clearly, something needs to be done so our campus doesn't turn into a disaster zone. I actually have to place some of the blame on MSU for this. Nothing excuses what the students did, but if MSU had shown some foresight, brought in a few cops and some garbage bins and porta-potties, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad. Just my $0.02.

[Shakermaker]

I know this isn't the typical bobcat fan's behavior either... and I'm a Griz fan. I never have had a problem in Bozo. I know the Griz have one or two poop stains out there as well.

[RyeCat]

I think I sat in front of you. I remember seeing the "young lad" in front of us acting the fool. However, I also remember the many Bison fans behind me booing our 'Cats and instead of being the fine upstanding fans that you're portraying yourselves to be...I remember one very drunk member of your contingent trying to cause a little rowdiness in our student section. The Bison fans also engaged the "young lad" in banter and gestures of like kind. It may not have been you personally, but poor sportsmanship was abound.



Mike - I saw the remnants of that trash on the PE complex lawn and noticed that it was cleaned up when I left the SUB at 5pm. Thanks to you and your crew for your hard work. I didn't know until later that it was from the student body and I was truly disappointed when I found out. I think the fieldhouse idea would be a good idea for future ticket sales. I hope you can use your influence to change the process next time.

[BozoneCat]

I think you missed my point, Rye. I don't want too see MSU have to bring things inside the fieldhouse. Part of the college experience is camping out for tickets. Getting stuck inside the stale environment of a fieldhouse is lame. If we just do a little better job controlling the situation, I think MSU can continue to let students camp out and have a good time.

[RyeCat]

Bozone, did you see the lawn of the PE complex today?

[BozoneCat]

No, but I've seen it before. What I'm saying is that if MSU takes a more proactive approach to controlling this type of thing from happening, you won't have this type of thing happening again. I believe it is possible for college kids to camp out, drink some beer, start a bonfire, have a great time, and not leave the grounds looking like a tornado ran through it.

[profisme]

Fortunately, I was at the head of the line for the entire time so I wasn't near the fires or anything like that. I was however doused with beers when some people cut up to the front and people in the not front of the line were not so happy about that and threw beer cans up our way. It was pretty irritating for those of us who spent our entire nights up there to see that type of behavior. I was very concerned for the females who were up there, I didn't want them to be hit in the head by full beer cans.

[RyeCat]

I'm an old fart.

[Shakermaker]

Today on egriz, Catsrule came in when we were down 20-7 and spewed feces about us losing. Another classy fan. I told him not to tempt fate because you guys have a tough game to play at PSU.

Good luck by the way.

[bozbobcat]

I think that our friends from North Dakota happened to have a bad experience here and assumed that all Bobcat fans were jerks and because they met a nice Grizzly fan they assumed that all Grizzly fans were good. The majority of Bobcat fans are good fans and they won't razz anybody but Griz fans, and only because they earned it. Also, it's too bad what some students did outside of the Fieldhouse today. Again, this isn't representative of many MSU students, including myself. There should have been no reason that one bad egg spoiled a long trip for 2 NDSU fans and again college students should clean up after themselves. Just remember that these people are a very small percentage of the Bobcat fan population and the rest of us are good people. As the boss man said, Cat fans kick @$$.

By the way, thanks to all of those people who did clean up. You're an example of the many good ones around here.

[GFGriz]

I think that our friends from North Dakota happened to have a bad experience here and assumed that all Bobcat fans were jerks and because they met a nice Grizzly fan they assumed that all Grizzly fans were good. The majority of Bobcat fans are good fans and they won't razz anybody but Griz fans, and only because they earned it. Also, it's too bad what some students did outside of the Fieldhouse today. Again, this isn't representative of many MSU students, including myself. There should have been no reason that one bad egg spoiled a long trip for 2 NDSU fans and again college students should clean up after themselves. Just remember that these people are a very small percentage of the Bobcat fan population and the rest of us are good people. As the boss man said, Cat fans kick @$$.

By the way, thanks to all of those people who did clean up. You're an example of the many good ones around here.

And what, precisely, have the Griz fans done to "earn it"? Besides being Griz fans? I don't think fans should be treating each other with disrespect. Everyone's there to watch the game and support their team. No one "earns" being treated disresepctfully just by being a fan of the opposing team. I'm constantly amazed at the number of State fans who lament not getting the "respect" they say they have "earned" (by what.... just being a fan?), yet whenever visitors complain about being treated badly, the State folks make up excuses for it and nearly break their arms patting themselves on the back for being great fans, when out-of-state fans are stating the opposite. It's also interesting the way you turn comments directed to your fans as evidence the Griz are really the culprits: these folks supposedly found the rare rude State fan, and found the rare nice Griz fans. Sorry, that doesn't cut it. Fans of both schools should stop visitors from being treated disrepsectfully. We are the representatives of our state whom visitors remember.