I've been sitting on this thought since Friday night, waiting till I could think more with my head than with my heart. In an earlier blog I reported going to the Buffalo Bandits playoff game in Rochester, NY. Rochester is only 90 miles from Buffalo so I've always considered it to be a "friendly rivalry". After Friday I have begun to reconsider that thought.
Over the years my friends and I have gone to many of our teams' away games and have always expected the friendly reminders that we were in enemy territory. However, what we encountered upon arriving at the Blue Cross Arena was rather disturbing. One of the first people we saw when we entered the arena was a child (I'm guessing 10-12 years old) in a wheelchair holding a sign that said "GO HOME BANDITS FANS". Are you kidding me??? I don't have a problem with cheering for your team, but this? I have to ask the parents of this child "Is this really the kind of behavior you want to teach him?" It's certainly not teaching him to respect other people and when he grows up he'll wonder why people don't respect him. Remember that respect is earned and this is not the way to earn it.
Once we got our tickets and made our way to our seats we heard some of the Knighhawks fans complaining that the Bandits fans were taking all of "their" seats. If we were taking seats from the Knighthawks fans I have to wonder where they were when the tickets were on sale. If they're season ticketholders, obviously they opted NOT to buy the tickets. If not, they didn't bother to buy the tickets when they became available. I ordered the tickets as soon as the Bandits won their previous game and we knew they would be playing in Rochester. And it's not like there weren't seats available either.
During the game we noticed one of the Knighthawks cheerleaders was holding a sign that said "GO HOME BUFFALO". Of course, all of the Rochester fans cheered when this was shown on the scoreboard. You can't really control an individual fan having this kind of sign; but to have an official representative of the team holding it really makes me wonder.
And all of this wasn't what REALLY caused me to take issue with the Rochester Knighthawks and their fans. In HSBC Arena where the Bandits play their home games, the PA announcer will yell "Buffalo WHAT???" to which the fans respond "BANDITS!!!". No real putdown of the other team or their fans there. However, many of us Bandits fans noticed a sign in the arena that said "Buffalo What??? ....... Sucks!!!" This wasn't a homemade sign made by a fan. This was an official, illuminated arena sign. To say that we were shocked is an understatement. In all of my years of going to sporting events I have never before seen a team/arena not only condone, but promote, something so no-class as that.
Considering the close proximity of the two cities there is always a large contingent of Bandits fans at the games in Rochester. On this night that was nearly half of the 8000 in attendance - people who had purchased tickets, food, beverages. If this is the way the Blue Cross Arena, Rochester Knighthawks and their fans feel about the fans from Buffalo I think we should seriously consider saving our money and staying home in the future. However, please feel free to come to HSBC Arena to enjoy a game and cheer on your team. We enjoy the rivalry and you will receive a warmer welcome than we did.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
You should write a letter to the Editor. Maybe "cc" it to the arena and the "home team" there. Let them know how "unsportsmanlike" they were. I mean, if they really wanted the team to go home, there wouldn't be a game now would there?! Duh! Andy yes, it would be interesting to know numbers like how much the consessions made that night, etc. I understand wanting to stay home to make a statement, but what might be fun is that next time that situation arises, all the fans of the visiting team still go to the game, but don't buy anything! Boycott their consessions! Ha!!
Post a Comment