Is no way to go through life, son. I don't think Bobby Petrino was drunk, but he's certainly fat and CERTAINLY stupid. He hired a 25 year old ex volleyball player that he was having an affair with, despite the fact that he's married with four children. Then, he wrecked his motorcycle with his mistress on it, and lied about it.
He got fired yesterday, and rightfully so. As the face of an athletic department, when you do stupid things and tarnish your reputation as well as your school's, you deserve to get fired. I have no issue with that. What I do have an issue with are the morons who held a rally to support Petrino. HOW in the world can you defend him?Because he's a football coach? What if he was an English Professor? Would there even be a question that he should be fired? No. Not for a second.
As I read about the jabroni's who supported him, I began to think about the things that stupid sports fans do. There is a list of offenses that are so egregious that your viewing and rooting right should be revoked. In order of most offensive, they are:
1. Doing physical harm to opposing fans - We all remember last opening day in Los Angeles. Dodger fans literally beat a San Francisco Giant's fan half to death. Brain damage, coma, months of rehabilitation for a man who was a fan of the other team. That was it. Did he run his mouth? Maybe, even possibly. So what? That justifies the beating of a lifetime? This could be worthy of it's own post because there is so much wrong and awful with it. So I'll just say this - if you have ever done physical harm to an opposing fan, you're not a real fan. You're a goon. Even if it was an Oregon fan, no excuse.
2. Throwing something or running on the field during play - A drunk fan who runs on the field in nothing bus his boxers is funny, for a minute. It's even funnier when that fan gets tackled by security. Then they spend the night in jail, sober up and feel really stupid about what they did. But there is so much that can go wrong, and you never know what the intentions are - right, Tom Gamboa?
Chances are you're going to do something negative to hurt your team - technical fouls, penalties, messing up momentum. Oh, and 100% you're going to jail. You might make it on to Sportscenter, but you're going to jail, ass.
3. Celebrating and defending a coach when they screw up big time - This one has been at the forefront a great deal lately, starting in November with Joe Paterno at Penn State and now with Bobby Petrino. Both were great coaches (I use the past tense because Jo Pa is dead and Bobby Petrino will never coach again after his performances with the Falcons and Razorbacks). Let's get it straight - Both men failed their universities and teams. Joe Paterno, despite the immeasurable good that he did over more than 60 years at Penn State, allowed a pedophile to operate unimpeded on his watch. Even worse, he learned about it and didn't stop it. How did Penn State fans respond? They nearly rioted.
I get it - he was and is the face of Penn State and had been for decades. But he screwed up, badly. He allowed for children to be molested by not acting. I'm sorry Jo Pa, but you failed in every possible way, and you deserved to be fired. Are you a great coach? Yes. Did you stand for integrity? Yes. But when it mattered most, you failed to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Bobby Petrino has no such legacy, and yet 200 people decided that despite the fact he cheated on his wife and used University of Arkansas money to employ his mistress then lied about his motorcycle accident that he shouldn't lose his job. I mean, this guy doesn't have a real sterling reputation to begin with, so this type of behavior isn't shocking. He's a dirt bag, plain and simple. That's the kind of guy you want representing your Football program, Arkansas fans? Seriously?
4. Rushing the court/field when you beat a marginally ranked team - There are precisely three occasions when you can rush the field/court:
He got fired yesterday, and rightfully so. As the face of an athletic department, when you do stupid things and tarnish your reputation as well as your school's, you deserve to get fired. I have no issue with that. What I do have an issue with are the morons who held a rally to support Petrino. HOW in the world can you defend him?Because he's a football coach? What if he was an English Professor? Would there even be a question that he should be fired? No. Not for a second.
As I read about the jabroni's who supported him, I began to think about the things that stupid sports fans do. There is a list of offenses that are so egregious that your viewing and rooting right should be revoked. In order of most offensive, they are:
1. Doing physical harm to opposing fans - We all remember last opening day in Los Angeles. Dodger fans literally beat a San Francisco Giant's fan half to death. Brain damage, coma, months of rehabilitation for a man who was a fan of the other team. That was it. Did he run his mouth? Maybe, even possibly. So what? That justifies the beating of a lifetime? This could be worthy of it's own post because there is so much wrong and awful with it. So I'll just say this - if you have ever done physical harm to an opposing fan, you're not a real fan. You're a goon. Even if it was an Oregon fan, no excuse.
2. Throwing something or running on the field during play - A drunk fan who runs on the field in nothing bus his boxers is funny, for a minute. It's even funnier when that fan gets tackled by security. Then they spend the night in jail, sober up and feel really stupid about what they did. But there is so much that can go wrong, and you never know what the intentions are - right, Tom Gamboa?
3. Celebrating and defending a coach when they screw up big time - This one has been at the forefront a great deal lately, starting in November with Joe Paterno at Penn State and now with Bobby Petrino. Both were great coaches (I use the past tense because Jo Pa is dead and Bobby Petrino will never coach again after his performances with the Falcons and Razorbacks). Let's get it straight - Both men failed their universities and teams. Joe Paterno, despite the immeasurable good that he did over more than 60 years at Penn State, allowed a pedophile to operate unimpeded on his watch. Even worse, he learned about it and didn't stop it. How did Penn State fans respond? They nearly rioted.
I get it - he was and is the face of Penn State and had been for decades. But he screwed up, badly. He allowed for children to be molested by not acting. I'm sorry Jo Pa, but you failed in every possible way, and you deserved to be fired. Are you a great coach? Yes. Did you stand for integrity? Yes. But when it mattered most, you failed to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Bobby Petrino has no such legacy, and yet 200 people decided that despite the fact he cheated on his wife and used University of Arkansas money to employ his mistress then lied about his motorcycle accident that he shouldn't lose his job. I mean, this guy doesn't have a real sterling reputation to begin with, so this type of behavior isn't shocking. He's a dirt bag, plain and simple. That's the kind of guy you want representing your Football program, Arkansas fans? Seriously?
4. Rushing the court/field when you beat a marginally ranked team - There are precisely three occasions when you can rush the field/court:
- When your team beats a Top 5 ranked team. For example, in 2004, the unranked Washington Huskies beat the #1 ranked and undefeated Stanford Cardinal in the final game of the regular season. It's not OK when your team beats the 19th ranked team in the country in mid January. That's bush league.
- When you are playing your rival in a game that will cripple their post season/bowl hopes. The 2002 WSU Cougars were ranked #3 and if they beat UW in the Apple Cup, there was a chance that they could actually play for a national title (God, I just threw up in my mouth a little at the thought). UW won a triple overtime thriller in Pullman, and Husky fans rushed the field, as was appropriate. Cougar fans, ever the classy bunch, threw full bottles at Husky fans. Nicely done. To ease your pain, WSU fans, please relive the final moments of that wonderful day.
- If your team wins on a miraculous play or shot. No matter the context of the game, those things just don't happen that often. Often times this will coincide with upsetting a highly ranked team. A perfect (and sadly heartbreaking for me) example was the 2007 Apple Cup in Seattle. Tie game, and out of nowhere....Coug fans rushed the field. They had every right.
There are more, no doubt - but these four simply scream ignorance as a fan. Just don't do them. You'll save yourself a lot of embarrassment. Hopefully you take my sage advice and don't end up like Frank The Tank...don't be that guy.
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