Letter from Peter Fields

[CARDIAC_CATS]

From Bobcats Suck...
"We are definitely going to have the officials on our side for the Griz/Cat showdown!

Big Sky Refs are like cops in the fact that if you mess with one of them, you mess with all of them. They don't forget stuff like this and will hold a grudge"

BS... That is BS!! I have been around football officiating for over 25 years... not a chance the officials will allow this type of thing to affect their integrity. You obviously have not been around officials to understand that they sure as hell want to get things right before they let a stupid mistake or choice cause coaches, players and fans to rake them over even worse. Yeah... no doubt there are mistakes made... and those that make them will either correct them or will get the boot by the director of officials for the conference. It is a classless act that was done by a very few idiots... most likely full of beer or whatever... and I think Fields letter was a class act in response, as is the comments by the vast majority of BobcatNation. Well done...

Whatever?

The first time the Refs here "Eat S##T Grizzlies, Go Cats go!" The hankies will start flying.

You mean the Griz fans will be crying already in the stands?

[JahGriz]

I guess the Cats will have to beat both the Griz and Ref's in two weeks.

I agree that this incident, and others like it, don't affect the impartiality of refs. And, regardless of the cat fans who see every call that goes for the Griz as refs being paritial to the Griz, but refuse to see the calls that screw the Griz at all, I don't think these bad calls have anything to do with who is playing, but rather missed calls by HUMAN refs.

If a small number of fans want to act like jackasses and vandalize or verbaly abuse refs after the game, or if the crowd abuses them during a game; I highly doubt the refs are going to take it out on the players and coaches.

[BozoneCat]

As much as I like to rag on the incompetent Big Sky refs, I think that they are more professional than to carry a grudge from this incident. I am not worried about backlash during Cat-griz - as much as they suck throughout the season, Cat-griz is almost always the best-reffed game of the year. The better team will win.

[BozCatFan]

Writing and posting this letter was a good decision by Peter Fields and the staff. We'll find the losers who did this.

[kstack]

I love the fact that Fields responded to this situation almost as quickly as he did to two former athletes being arrested for murder.
I can't be TOO harsh though, I understand that past events have put the athletics program in ultra-conservative mode. Of course, this has all the makings of a completely overblown situation. It's too bad not enough happens in Bozeman to keep us from talking about a fairly harmless situation such as this.

[bozbobcat]

I don't like to hear this kind of thing at all, and I know none of us do either. I will state right now that I said quite a few choice words to the refs after that one, but you don't chase down the refs after the game. That is just stupid right there and is completely unacceptable by anyone. That call did not take a victory away from the Bobcats, so let's just admit that the officiating sucked for that game. But what those people did is classless and they deserve to be banned from Bobcat football games for a substantial amount of time.

[Eastcoastgriz]

This isn't good! Why do people have to act like such idiots

http://www.msubobcats.com/news.php?sid=h&nid=1706

This is two years in a row that cat fans have gotten out of control (damage done last year to a ND fans RV). msu is starting to get a very unfavorable reputation with all that has happened over the last 3 or 4 years.

[GOKATS]

This isn't good! Why do people have to act like such idiots

http://www.msubobcats.com/news.php?sid=h&nid=1706

This is two years in a row that cat fans have gotten out of control (damage done last year to a ND fans RV). msu is starting to get a very unfavorable reputation with all that has happened over the last 3 or 4 years.

Only in your eyes. Make what you want of it.

[WeedKillinCat]

Then on top of this, that nasty letter to the editor from the female realtor from Zoola.

[Eastcoastgriz]

This isn't good! Why do people have to act like such idiots

http://www.msubobcats.com/news.php?sid=h&nid=1706

This is two years in a row that cat fans have gotten out of control (damage done last year to a ND fans RV). msu is starting to get a very unfavorable reputation with all that has happened over the last 3 or 4 years.

Only in your eyes. Make what you want of it.

Say what you want, but this is what a big time cat booster feelings were!!!

[kstack]

Could you guys over-react more? If it was a potato in a exhuast pipe, then that's nothing more than a juvenile act. There are so many more important things to worry about, such as the way our athletes conduct themselves. Frankly, I'm much more concerned about an issue such as players like LeBlanc who don't respect the free education they are given and crap away a golden opportunity to play collegiate sports. Shouldn't our athletes not going to class and basically saying "to hell with a free education" a larger issue than a couple of drunk fans pulling a childlike prank? We need to get our priorities straight if we want to progress as an institution...

[bozbobcat]

Could you guys over-react more? If it was a potato in a exhuast pipe, then that's nothing more than a juvenile act. There are so many more important things to worry about, such as the way our athletes conduct themselves. Frankly, I'm much more concerned about an issue such as players like LeBlanc who don't respect the free education they are given and crap away a golden opportunity to play collegiate sports. Shouldn't our athletes not going to class and basically saying "to hell with a free education" a larger issue than a couple of drunk fans pulling a childlike prank? We need to get our priorities straight if we want to progress as an institution...

I'm going to agree here. Athletes should be in class and doing well, and let me tell you this, if they're not willing to take advantage of a free education, I know of at least 12,000 other students on campus who would take advantage of that in a minute. I would personally love that money so it would be easier for me to pay for my student teaching in Butte, where you're not supposed to work during the experience. I've said that about student athletes repeatedly on this board. But I'll say this: doing that to the official's car is almost as bad as far as public relations go.

[Eastcoastgriz]

Could you guys over-react more? If it was a potato in a exhuast pipe, then that's nothing more than a juvenile act.

The potato in the exhaust pipe part is relatively minor. The rest of it, intimidation of the officials, throwing things at the vehicle and rocking the vehicle as the officials drove away are not.

[bobcatmaniac]

Could you guys over-react more? If it was a potato in a exhuast pipe, then that's nothing more than a juvenile act.

The potato in the exhaust pipe part is relatively minor. The rest of it, intimidation of the officials, throwing things at the vehicle and rocking the vehicle as the officials drove away are not.

Now you are adding rocks? Keep spinning the story, griz

[Eastcoastgriz]

Could you guys over-react more? If it was a potato in a exhuast pipe, then that's nothing more than a juvenile act.

The potato in the exhaust pipe part is relatively minor. The rest of it, intimidation of the officials, throwing things at the vehicle and rocking the vehicle as the officials drove away are not.

Now you are adding rocks? Keep spinning the story, griz

Rocking the vehicle back and forth, not throwing rocks.

[083190]

rtb apparently witnessed most of this. It was simply the potato amd some comments nothing more than that according to his earlier post. No intimidation or rocking of the car. Childish yes, vandalism no.

[JahGriz]

Who's to say the potato(e) incident was the only one? If it was, that isn't exactly a bad case of vandalism. The verbal jabs outside of the game is worse, if you ask me. Refs get plenty of that during the game, they don't need some a-hole getting on them back in the real world.

[KillintheGriz]

We are definitely going to have the officials on our side for the Griz/Cat showdown!

Big Sky Refs are like cops in the fact that if you mess with one of them, you mess with all of them. They don't forget stuff like this and will hold a grudge.

refs have always been on your side. Case in point the 4th down spot last week. It's like in basketball when the refs let "stars" get away with 2-3 step travelling violations.

[rtb]

One quick addition. I haven't been online much and won't be today, but I read in the Chronicle where the officials car was rocked while leaving the stadium.

Again, I do not condone what happened at the stadium, BUT no one approached the vehicle and it absolutely was not rocked. Either the officials didn't tell a true account of what happened or some third or forth hand rumor is being added to what happened.

I just want to make sure that this incident isn't made out to be bigger than what it was. If at any point I would have felt the refs were being threatened or in a dangerous situation you can bet that myself and many others would have stopped anything from happening.

Overall, the situation isn't cool and shouldn't have taken place, BUT what I saw happen wasn't threatening or unsafe in anyway.

[Eastcoastgriz]

rtb apparently witnessed most of this. It was simply the potato amd some comments nothing more than that according to his earlier post. No intimidation or rocking of the car. Childish yes, vandalism no.

The article in the newspaper states otherwise.