Unnecessary Roughness

[knapplc]

Here is an email I received from a LSU fan (now there is a ugly group!)

We had an argument that the about what we were expressing vs. what how the clapping was being received.

What do you think - are we making the other fans feel like we think we are better than them? And is this similar to are thinking we are "Footballs greatest fans?"

 

- For years, Nebraska fans have been lauded for the way they politely clap for the vanquished opposing team after home games. The shoe was on the other foot this week as Kansas fans clapped for the Nebraska as it walked off the field. Several Nebraska fans have commented on how condescending the nice gesture really feels to the other side.

Your LSU friend is welcome to think that Husker Fans are "condescending" towards our opponents when they walk off the field. Frankly, that argument holds no logic. If it were true, we would not give the exact same ovation to the teams that beat us as they walk off the field.

 

Tell Mr. LSU about the inscriptions on the stadium:

 

“Not the victory but the action

Not the goal but the game

In the deed the glory”

 

And:

 

"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor;

In these are the true awards of manly sport."

 

These are the tenets of Husker Football. I knew these sayings by the time I was ten years old. Many teams pay lip service to the concepts in these inscriptions, but the Huskers lived them for the better part of my life. I’d like to believe that our fans still do, even if the current coaches seem to have forgotten all about them. That’s why we give our opponents that ovation, win or lose.

 

It’s not condescending, it comes from a legitimate appreciation of the effort they gave and the sport they play. It has so very little to do with whether we beat them or they beat us. It’s not surprising that an outsider wouldn’t know this. I just hope that everyone who calls themselves a Husker Fan today knows these things, and goes to the games with an intention to live up to them.

 

Now, I have no idea why KU fans gave us that ovation. I'd like to believe that they were doing it for the same reason we do. Maybe someone who was at the game can shed more light on that, but unless that ovation was accompanied by some overt form of derision, I have no reason to believe they were doing anything other than offering their thanks for our part in the game.

[T_O_Bull]

It is truly sad that these kids have to go through this. But kids are mean, there are no two ways about it. They are like animals that prey on the weak. That is the parents fault. "teach a child in the way they should go." But I'm a Husker fan, born and bred,and if one of my kids was doing this, which we don't live in Lincoln, so it wasn't mine, they would be grounded till they were legal age and they know it. I raise my children to treat others the way they want to be treated. So for me this is all on the parents, kids will go along with what other kids do just to fit in. And it's only getting worse. Unfortunately this isn't the only time, TO has talked about how his kids didn't want to go to school on Monday after losing a game. Doesn't make it right, just means that these kids will grow up someday. Until then all anyone can do, especially parents of kids who go to the schools and is say "Hey I don't think it's good thing to taunt the kids, they can't control their parents anymore than you can control me." It's not their fault.

 

 

 

Good job MaMa!!! The world needs more mothers like you. GBR!!!

 

...T_O_B

 

[DaveH]

 

IMO, there really isn't anything that separates NU fans from any other fans. We have bad apples just like every other team's fans do. The one thing that I can think of that separates us from other fans is the fact that in the state of Nebraska there really is nothing else for us. We are a state of small population but of huge fanbase because nearly every citizen of the state is a huge Husker fan. The best way to rally the entire state's population all centers around Husker football. This is what makes us unique is the fact that the fans make up the entire state. CU fans have the Broncos, Avalanche, Rockies etc. to bide their time. Texas fans have even more teams to bide their time. For the Nebraska citizens, everything comes to a halt in terms of something to cheer for once football season is over. IMO, this is what makes us unique. I don't think we're any better fans than anyone else.

 

The only similar comparison I can draw is maybe KU basketball or maybe even Kentucky basketball. However, I don't think they even draw the entire state's attention like the Husker football team draws our attention. Notre Dame football might come close. While they don't draw the entire state of Indiana's attention, they do draw a huge national fanbase's attention.

I never thought of it that way. It's true that the following of Husker football just in the state is pretty unique. Nation wide, like a lot of teams, they have a following as well.

[lswhawk14]

I go to Southwest, and I have witnessed lots of stuff. Most of the ridiculing goes towards Connor Cosgrove. He is handling everything very well, however. He plays baseball, too, and he was always very laid back and funny during practice and tryouts and stuff. He's a pretty funny dude. He'll get a pass to go to the bathroom from one teacher, then go to my spanish class and get candy from the teacher. He does not seem constantly happy like he used to, but, like I said, he is handling everything very well. Lincoln East sucks anyway.

[DaveH]

I go to Southwest, and I have witnessed lots of stuff. Most of the ridiculing goes towards Connor Cosgrove. He is handling everything very well, however. He plays baseball, too, and he was always very laid back and funny during practice and tryouts and stuff. He's a pretty funny dude. He'll get a pass to go to the bathroom from one teacher, then go to my spanish class and get candy from the teacher. He does not seem constantly happy like he used to, but, like I said, he is handling everything very well. Lincoln East sucks anyway.

Yea, being a coaches kid I think you'd have to have some kind of way to deal with crap like this.

[huskerintexas]

Here is an email I received from a LSU fan (now there is a ugly group!)

We had an argument that the about what we were expressing vs. what how the clapping was being received.

What do you think - are we making the other fans feel like we think we are better than them? And is this similar to are thinking we are "Footballs greatest fans?"

 

- For years, Nebraska fans have been lauded for the way they politely clap for the vanquished opposing team after home games. The shoe was on the other foot this week as Kansas fans clapped for the Nebraska as it walked off the field. Several Nebraska fans have commented on how condescending the nice gesture really feels to the other side.

Your LSU friend is welcome to think that Husker Fans are "condescending" towards our opponents when they walk off the field. Frankly, that argument holds no logic. If it were true, we would not give the exact same ovation to the teams that beat us as they walk off the field.

 

Tell Mr. LSU about the inscriptions on the stadium:

 

“Not the victory but the action

Not the goal but the game

In the deed the glory”

 

And:

 

"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor;

In these are the true awards of manly sport."

 

These are the tenets of Husker Football. I knew these sayings by the time I was ten years old. Many teams pay lip service to the concepts in these inscriptions, but the Huskers lived them for the better part of my life. I’d like to believe that our fans still do, even if the current coaches seem to have forgotten all about them. That’s why we give our opponents that ovation, win or lose.

 

It’s not condescending, it comes from a legitimate appreciation of the effort they gave and the sport they play. It has so very little to do with whether we beat them or they beat us. It’s not surprising that an outsider wouldn’t know this. I just hope that everyone who calls themselves a Husker Fan today knows these things, and goes to the games with an intention to live up to them.

 

Now, I have no idea why KU fans gave us that ovation. I'd like to believe that they were doing it for the same reason we do. Maybe someone who was at the game can shed more light on that, but unless that ovation was accompanied by some overt form of derision, I have no reason to believe they were doing anything other than offering their thanks for our part in the game.

 

Very similar to my response to him, but better said!

[HuskerExpat]

If the majority of our fans were truly great, they would not stand for such crap from the minority of fans who do stuff like this. There would be such public pressure on the minority, that it would bring them back in line. Instead, the majority doesn't say a word to the people doing the act. I think it is probably that silence or indifference by the majority that causes DaveH to say that we are not the greatest fans...

[knapplc]

If the majority of our fans were truly great, they would not stand for such crap from the minority of fans who do stuff like this. There would be such public pressure on the minority, that it would bring them back in line. Instead, the majority doesn't say a word to the people doing the act. I think it is probably that silence or indifference by the majority that causes DaveH to say that we are not the greatest fans...

 

What exactly are we supposed to do? Indifference? Look on this board - there are literally hundreds of Husker fans denouncing this stuff!

 

I don't get how I'm supposed to stop these guys. Can you tell me that? And what are YOU doing to make them stop?

[HuskerExpat]

If the majority of our fans were truly great, they would not stand for such crap from the minority of fans who do stuff like this. There would be such public pressure on the minority, that it would bring them back in line. Instead, the majority doesn't say a word to the people doing the act. I think it is probably that silence or indifference by the majority that causes DaveH to say that we are not the greatest fans...

 

What exactly are we supposed to do? Indifference? Look on this board - there are literally hundreds of Husker fans denouncing this stuff!

 

I don't get how I'm supposed to stop these guys. Can you tell me that? And what are YOU doing to make them stop?

 

I don't think anonymously denouncing such behavior on an internet message board is going to have much affect. And I'm not saying you or I have had the opportunity to do something to these specific people, but there are plenty of the "majority" of good fans who have had the opportunity to do something. There are the parents that have acted innapropriately themselves and set a bad example for their children who go to school, and then refuse to discipline appropriately, etc., etc. As for bad fans at games who heckle the players and shout obscenities, etc., the vast majority of the "majority" that you speak sit there and don't say or do a word. There are plenty of things that could be done, but most do not. Does that make the "majority" bad fans, or bad people? Absolutely not. It just doesn't make them the "greatest fans"....

[knapplc]

If the majority of our fans were truly great, they would not stand for such crap from the minority of fans who do stuff like this. There would be such public pressure on the minority, that it would bring them back in line. Instead, the majority doesn't say a word to the people doing the act. I think it is probably that silence or indifference by the majority that causes DaveH to say that we are not the greatest fans...

 

What exactly are we supposed to do? Indifference? Look on this board - there are literally hundreds of Husker fans denouncing this stuff!

 

I don't get how I'm supposed to stop these guys. Can you tell me that? And what are YOU doing to make them stop?

 

I don't think anonymously denouncing such behavior on an internet message board is going to have much affect. And I'm not saying you or I have had the opportunity to do something to these specific people, but there are plenty of the "majority" of good fans who have had the opportunity to do something. There are the parents that have acted innapropriately themselves and set a bad example for their children who go to school, and then refuse to discipline appropriately, etc., etc. As for bad fans at games who heckle the players and shout obscenities, etc., the vast majority of the "majority" that you speak sit there and don't say or do a word. There are plenty of things that could be done, but most do not. Does that make the "majority" bad fans, or bad people? Absolutely not. It just doesn't make them the "greatest fans"....

All I'm asking is what you think the "good" fans should do about it. When have the "majority" had the opportunity? Where? At games? On the streets of Lincoln?

 

I'm as angry as you about these things, but there's simply nothing we can do to stop it. You can't prevent someone from being a jerk. It's a nice thought that the "good" fans will stop the "bad" fans, but in reality it's not possible, short of assault.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Someone needs to beat these little jerks a$$es! There is no need for their kids to go through this. Grow the hell up!

[vwaldoguy]

It kind of speaks volumes why the coaches are basically saying FU to the fans. We've treated them like garbage on so many occasions (and apparently their families too), and we expect them to treat us with the reverence fans think they deserve. I think our fans are just as human as any other fans across the nation, and often ask if we (the fans) have been put on a pedestal that we don't deserve.

[Dave M.]

Just another reason why Nebraska fans aren't "the greatest fans in college football". They are pretty average IMO.

 

Just a question for you Dave H. Who are the "greatest" fans in college football?

 

Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, etc?

 

Who is it? The overwhelming consensus nationwide is that NEBRASKA fans are. That is based on much more than just our history this year. I don't know of any state or fan base that is as knowledgable as ours. I don't know of any other team that stands and claps for the opponent, Win or lose.

 

There is NO place like Nebraska... when it comes to the GREATEST fans in the country!

[treeeman]

OWH

 

Unnecessary Roughness: Coaches' kids also targets of frustrated NU fans' ire

BY MITCH SHERMAN

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

 

LINCOLN — Nebraska football coach Bill Callahan and six of his nine full-time assistants have a total of 12 children enrolled in Lincoln's public and parochial schools.

 

Some of the more public behavior has involved Lincoln Southwest, where sons of beleaguered Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove and cornerbacks coach Phil Elmassian played this fall as juniors on the football team.

 

On Oct. 12, as Southwest played Lincoln East at Seacrest Field, East students reacted to the announcement of Connor Cosgrove's name by launching a "Fire Cosgrove" chant.

 

The students were quickly reined in. Lincoln East's athletic director and coach later apologized to Southwest officials.

 

School administrators have sought to short-circuit problems, but it's impossible to eliminate them entirely, said Rob Slauson, Southwest's principal.

 

"We want to have an environment that is emotionally safe and physically safe," said Slauson, whose son Matt starts on the offensive line for NU.

 

Even at home, the children of coaches are not safe from criticism.

 

"Never in my life have I experienced this," said Kevin Cosgrove, who started coaching in 1980 and spent 13 years at Wisconsin before coming to Nebraska. "I don't think it should come with the territory. I don't think kids should be getting phone calls and text messages and things like that. I don't think that's right.

 

"These are supposed to be true fans? Really?"

 

Southwest football coach Mark King said he has not witnessed an incident at school.

 

"But I've seen the hurt," King said. "Words sometimes do hurt more than you think. It can be hard when your father's a public figure."

 

Callahan, whose two daughters attend Pius X High in Lincoln, said he wants to emphasize that most people have acted respectfully.

 

When situations turn ugly, the fourth-year head coach said, the experience serves as a "learning process" for the coaches and their families.

 

"Unless you've walked in someone else's shoes, you really don't know what they're going through," Callahan said. "It's easy to criticize, but when you're in the arena and you're trying the best you can and you're battling, it hurts. It hurts everybody in your family."

 

Most troubling, said Tim Cassidy, Nebraska's chief football administrator, is the criticism voiced at home by parents and then repeated at school by their children.

 

Cassidy, whose daughter attends Southwest and whose son, Austin, started at quarterback as a senior for the Silver Hawks last year, said the criticism isn't indicative of the state. He said poor treatment from a few gets a lot of notice.

 

"But I can also tell you that we've got a lot of people who write us to say they're thinking of us," he said.

 

All of this is nothing new. Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said that until he retired in 1997, his wife, Nancy, had kept from him the details of the abuse directed at their children during rough periods of his 25-year tenure.

 

None of that makes it any more acceptable, said Slauson, the Southwest principal.

 

Slauson said he checks occasionally with the children of NU coaches to ensure that they feel comfortable.

 

Southwest, in fact, offers something of a comfort zone, with the children of Cosgrove, Elmassian, Cassidy, Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson and athletic administrator Dennis Leblanc.

 

"They hang together," Cassidy said. "They support each other. Kids are resilient. They'll bounce back. They're going to move on, grow from this, and hopefully learn how not to sometimes act."

 

Imagine what the kids would be going through in Oakland

[The Snork]

Just another reason why Nebraska fans aren't "the greatest fans in college football". They are pretty average IMO.

 

Just a question for you Dave H. Who are the "greatest" fans in college football?

 

Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, etc?

 

Who is it? The overwhelming consensus nationwide is that NEBRASKA fans are. That is based on much more than just our history this year. I don't know of any state or fan base that is as knowledgable as ours. I don't know of any other team that stands and claps for the opponent, Win or lose.

 

There is NO place like Nebraska... when it comes to the GREATEST fans in the country!

 

 

Yeah that's what I'd like to know from the people who want to trash ALL the fans for the acts of a few.

 

If Nebraska fans aren't the "greatest" fans in college football then who are and why?

 

The last time I went to a game in Memorial (2005) there was a couple Iowa State fans cheering and mouthing off over a poor call. A nebraska fan challenged them and started poor mouthing them. Instantly about a dozen fans told him to cool off and reminded him "that we're better than that." Name me one other crowd, College OR pro that you're going to see that sort of pride in sportsmanship. I saw similar stuff at the orange bowl when we played Tennessee.