Saturday, February 23, 2008

Heartbreak

Every time the Dawgs lose at home it breaks my heart. But, we played a good game. We stopped scoring for about a five-minute period in the last 10 minutes of the game, and you can't do that against top-ranked teams. Drake's an outstanding team, and they can go far in the NCAA tourney.

Hopefully we'll apply what we learned today in the upcoming Wright State game, and carry some momentum into the HL tourney.

On a side note, I really don't appreciate Butler fans swarming toward the exit with 30 seconds left in the game just because the team lost. Of course we want to beat the crowd out of the gates and try to get out of the parking lot, but in reality at a sold-out game, you're not going anywhere in a hurry. Those guys deserve better support from us. They've given us so much, it's the least that we could do for them.

I also don't like the sportsmanship that many Butler fans are displaying. I realize that we want to intimidate our opponents when they play in Hinkle, but throwing stuff on the court while the game's in progress, needing security guards and police officers to protect the Drake fans, and the chantings of "you suck" and all the booing that happened before the game even started really reflects poorly on our university. We can certainly intimidate our opponent without being assholes.

I wonder if there's any truth behind crusaderguy08's claims about the types of fans that the Butler team draws.

Please don't take any of this personally, and let me know if you're seeing the same things that I am, or if you have a different perspective on this.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, about the sportsmanship: I agree, and I disagree. I DEFINITELY agree about the throwing stuff on court being unclassy. I mean, really, I was not pleased to see that at all. Our school takes pride in having class and good sportmanship. To see someone chuck a water bottle at an official...in front of a NATIONAL audience no less...upset me. I mean, I was mad at the refs too, but this really is just a game, and we really don't need to assault people over some controversial calls.

However, I see NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with us chanting "you suck" and booing. Why would you even bring that up now? We've been doing that exact same stuff for YEARS. It's tradition to chant "you suck" during that one song (I don't know the name of it offhand), and booing is part of the game! That's probably one of the nicest ways to intimidate opponents, really. Ever been to a Wright State away game? Even with the debri issue today we STILL look like saints compared to those fans.

But, about the game, we played hard; however, we NEED to make our free throws if we're going to beat good teams. That was the real difference in this game.

I was disappointed about it, but I'm a Cubs fan so I know how to bounce back quickly without getting too down. After all, there's always next week! Let's kick some Wright State butt!

crusaderguy08 said...

Josh-

What an outstanding game today between both Bulldog teams. It is refreshing to hear your perspective on the game without any complaining about the officiating. Valpo was playing Miami this afternoon and was at halftime during the end of your game. We watched the final four minutes of the Butler game instead of watching our hall of fame induction ceremony at halftime. I just don't see why Butler fans are so upset about the call on Mike Green at the end. It was pretty clear that he got a good shot on the shooter's arm and he even admitted that the refs made the proper call. He has to be smarter in that situation and not allow the refs to make a call. Above all, I am disappointed that you had fans throwing debris onto the court at Hinkle. That is absolutely disgraceful and there is NEVER a good reason to do that. I never understood the reasoning behind littering a playing surface with garbage. The embarrassing message it sends about a fan base far outweighs any point the fans are hoping to send to the officials. Having worked in security for the Cubs for nearly 3 years, I have seen quite a bit of trash throwing following calls that are deemed wrong by spectators, but it just doesn't make sense. Yell and scream all you want (Lord knows I have done my fair share of that this season), but throwing things severely crosses the line and is absolutely classless. I sure hope that the actions of the few today don't over-shadow what I hope is a much classier fan base down there in Indy.

-crusaderguy08

Sarah Arntz said...

I agree completely, yesterday's game could have been handled much better by our fans. I don't think they realize that throwing things on the court can cause technicals and therefore, still not helpful for our team. The sportmanship on our part was rude and disrespectful, I was quite ashamed. And as far as leaving early, I agree, our team needs our support even if we lose. Last night's loss was heart-breaking, but the loss isn't going to hurt us that bad and wasn't a Horizon League game. I would like to see more support for our team rather than chants of "you suck" and throwing stuff on the court, Butler fans need to have real spirit (which is something the Dawg Pound does not have) before they act like assholes at games.

Bradjward said...

I never leave games early, but I did on Saturday. Throwing stuff on the court is entirely unacceptable and extremely embarassing for the University. That's why I left early. Who wants to watch a bunch of snobby students whine and throw stuff? Not me.

Josh Arntz said...

I'm pretty sure that it wasn't the snobby students that showed their asses at that game. It appeared that the bottles thrown onto the court came from the season-ticket holder seats and the premium seating levels. So, it seems like it was someone acting like a "snobby student."

Bradjward said...

I watched one come from a Dawg Pound member on the Butler bench side, who proceeded to hide behind everyone near the top of the section, and another come from the upper Dawg Pound level on the opposite side.