Being the Away Fan
Eric over at Off Wing writes about fan encounters, like when you wear the jersey of the away team to a game and you’re harassed - are you willing to go back for more?
I’ve had the pleasure of having someone start in with me because I was rooting for the Islanders at a Isles-Rangers game at MSG. No problem normally, I’ve had an encounter or two at MSG and the Coliseum for Isles-Rangers games - but this was at the very end of the game (when everyone was standing up watching the last minute of a close game, although he didn’t feel like it) and this guy had his kid with him. His son (or perhaps nephew I guess) was no older than 7. We had some words, but I kept it pretty tame and low-key, but was thinking the whole time “why is this guy starting in with me in front of his kid?” It was pretty disturbing and I don’t need to tell anyone that it sets a bad example.
I’ve worn my Islanders jersey to the old Spectrum in Philly, myself and a friend were told we were going to be thrown off the top level, but it was just a couple of drunk fans looking to draw attention to themselves (we traded barbs, no big deal); same goes for a few other places and jerseys. I’ve witnessed a decent amount of fan scuffles - it just doesn’t make sense to start a fight at a game. You pay how much money to sit there and watch it - why even jeopardize that?
But here’s a flip-side: my girl and I went down to Florida and took a trip up to Tampa for a game. We went with her aunt and uncle, loyal Bolts fans. We didn’t wear jerseys, but had on a couple of t-shirts and she had a hat on. There were a good number of Islanders fans there, and except for one pair of people I didn’t witness anyone yelling back and forth. Pretty calm all around. I sat there and thought “wow, this is nice” - everyone can come and root for their team with no worries about being attacked. However - the crowd was pretty calm about everything. Only on a couple of occasions did they cheer at all and they certainly needed some coaching from the p.a. system to cheer/chant. I wasn’t used to the dullness that sometimes accompanied the game. So I guess kinda tame is good, but too tame wasn’t much fun either. Does an overall tame and a no-threatening-the-away-fans attitude go hand in hand? Well, I’d have to assume it does in general. I’m sure there are a good number of exceptions, but if we were to make a generalization, I think that would be the safe one.
Some random related thoughts: I’ve never been the away fan at a football game; the only pro basketball game I ever went to was up in Toronto against the Knicks, who I was rooting for, no problems there, but we were a large group; and for baseball I’m a Yankees fan, which makes me evil anywhere, but I’ve never really had a problem and I never wore any Yankees stuff to a non-Yankees game (so all National League teams are out). Actually, I’ve never worn the attire of a team that’s not playing the game unless it was a hat or shirt of a defunct team.
I was press covering the Sabres for a season and attended many other games during my college years up in Buffalo, and I’d say it was probably one of the better mixes of cheering for the home team and tameness towards the away fans that you’ll see, but every arena has its moments.
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