In that letter, he said, and I quote, "You never read stories of Penn State fans coming to Columbus and being abused, verbally and physically, so I just do not get it."
Well, Dick. Now you can get it.
In last Sunday's Altoona Mirror, two fans wrote in about their special experiences at the Shoe.
Finally - unlike Rich Foust from Troy, Ohio, and David Winters of Altoona - someone from Ohio State's trustees, Terry Jurgen, saw and admitted guilt and troubles in Ohio State's value systems.Thank you Ed and Lloyd.
Indeed, all sports fans should re-evaluate their priorities of intercollegiate competition.
Foust, in the spirit of Johnnie Cochran, chooses to blame Penn State fans and Penn State for coach Tressel cheating and lying about it. Yes, it's like blaming Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson for O.J. Simpson's heinous actions.
As far as abuse, Ohio State is the top venue in the Big Ten for drunkenness, verbal abuse and vulgarity. I've quit going to Columbus for games because of the extreme vulgarity of the Buckeye fans. I've been there, seen it, heard it and my nephew and his wife and 6-month-old daughter were sworn at and abused verbally at last year's game at Columbus.
. . .
In reply to the letter recently by Rich Foust of Troy, Ohio, the man needs to get his head out of the sand.
I am a Penn State season-ticket holder since 1966, been to nearly 400 games all over the country along with 20 bowl games (all the major ones). I have been to every Big Ten Stadium, and when the question, "who do you dislike most, for whatever reason?" comes up, the answer is always Ohio State.
Why? The answer is almost always treatment of visitors by the fans and the university itself (lousy seats). Even Indiana, which is not a football school, doesn't like the Buckeyes. That is bad.
My wife and I went to Penn State's first three games at Ohio State and because of the taunting and foul language directed at us, we swore we would never go back - and we haven't.
But I suspect Dick has an excuse for that too.
Say Goodnight, Dick.
Please feel free to click Agree or Disagree below, or better yet, leave a comment with your own Beaver Stadium/Ohio Stadium experience.
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1 comment:
I do have to credit Ohio State for its attempts over the last few years to promote better fan behavior. They at least realize there's a problem. But it takes 3-4 years for a fan behavior program to truly work.
They have actually eliminated alcohol at tailgates on campus sites. They have a formal social marketing program to convince fans to treat opposing team fans well, and it's beginning to work.
Wisconsin has a similar fan behavior program. It would be nice if Penn State initiated something as well, but so far Penn State has made only minimal attempts to address fan behavior, compared to what I've seen at Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Iowa in the last couple of years.
Even my students last year came back with a very positive impression of how they were treated by Ohio State students.
Personally we have never had difficulty with Ohio State. Our worst experience at a Big Ten away game was at Indiana two years ago when a group of drunk twenty-somethings threatened to roll our car into a nearby ditch. We exited quickly.
Does that make Indiana a bad atmosphere? I think not.
We need to be wary of small sample sizes when forming any conclusions.
Nonetheless, peoples' experiences are their experiences. And that truth can't be denied.
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