Home from Storrs (and alive)....

[HoustonCuse]

Syracuse. Flash Mob. Mariah Carey.

All of those people were there for a UConn alumni event...

 

[HoustonCuse]

You're universalizing singular incidents, to prove an unprovable point.

He gets paid big bone. Criticism is part of the job, anybody's job. My CEO gets criticized by the board of directors. Our secretary gets criticized and she makes 30K and has a couple kids to raise. And she is underwater on her house (like everyone in FL). That is pressure.

He does not get sued every year. he's been sued once (that I know of) in 30+.

There are also times where people fawn all over him. They donate tens of thousands to his causes. They name their kids after him. They ask for his autograph. It's not all a negative barrage.

He survives because he was a fantastically successful coach from day 1. Fastest to 100 wins and 400 wins if I recall. Other coaches fail because they are average or below average.

Ok. Good lord I wonder about you people sometimes.

 

[SWC75]

Thank you.



I don't condone anything beyond some good natured boo'ing. Swearing at little kids is not appropriate. Not sure what you are on about with the hire/fire line. Should they be petitioning for job interviews instead?

Tommy Lee Jones in Men in black said and I'm paraphrasing so I don't have to look the quote up: "The person is smart, people are dumb and quick to panic." Mob mentality is ugly, especially when its 2o something year old's who are intoxicated and who have been waiting for 48+ hours for a game less than an hour away. They misdirected their energy. They were wrong.

Where I contend is the spin doctoring to believe that this isn't indicative of the rivalry on both sides, and I would expect the same out of the Syracuse student section. It would still be wrong. Its sports and life in this country though.

What I'm really surprised about when I see it though, is when one person looks into the eyes of that mob and lights a fuse. I'm sure UConn fan's do it at the dome too, but its near the definition of insanity.

The guy that I was witness to was seriously surrounded in a sea of white, with his mom, and instigating a scenario that could have resulted in something terrible. His mom was scared and telling him to cool it too. But the lesson I take away from all of this is, the Cuse/UConn rivalry is on par with those on the level of sox/yanks eagles/giants. If you go into someone elses house and make yourself known, trouble will find you. I'm not saying its right, I hope my actions speak to that.

As far as the cheers are concerned, when I read Joyce's post I thought it implied that the student's noise was manufactured for the entire game. That's not the case. Yes they did the flash mob and yes that was pre-planned, but that was one timeout. If you couldn't hear the whole game, it wasn't some fake manufactured home court advantage. For all but that one timeout, that is the typical behavior for the student * 1,000 with the energy they were riding for this game.

Individuals can be adults but crowds are always children.

 

[UConn76]

Bottomline Oka...splain this

You have two well dressed folks around 70 years old with a young child PREGAME unprovoked being accosted with obscenities from your students. How is that classy? BTW, these are the types of folks that hire and fire young punks outta college.

Also, pregame choreographed cheers...that is spontaneous in your book?

CTO certainly appears to be a person of influence at SU and on your board (and on the UConn board) but her post and other leading up to the game play to two different audiences.

Her SU board posts talk about about Gampel is in the middle of no-where, no parking, 2 lane roads, mean spirited UConn fans etc. Then her final posts plays out to all the negatives of the place and our fans. Not exactly a shocker. She's playing to what the SU board wants to hear. But in the end, she's at the game. Something tells me she wasn't fearful for her or her group's safety.

I certainly don't condone any foul language or aggressive behavior. But I saw a lot of give and take with SU fans: always takes 2 to tango. My section had security guards up there for 1/2 of the game.

And please stop with the choreographed cheeers. CTO was at the GameDay show. I was there and the show's producers tell the crowd and the band when they can and can't do things to ensure the continuity of the show. The kids aren't going to stand there and go crazy for 3 hours. It's like being in a TV show and the applause light comes on.
To be criticized for that is ridiculous. She neglected to mention that Digger Phelps was the ringleader on this lack of spontaneity as he talked to the students.

 

[jdubs30]

CTO certainly appears to be a person of influence at SU and on your board (and on the UConn board) but her post and other leading up to the game play to two different audiences.

Her SU board posts talk about about Gampel is in the middle of no-where, no parking, 2 lane roads, mean spirited UConn fans etc. Then her final posts plays out to all the negatives of the place and our fans. Not exactly a shocker. She's playing to what the SU board wants to hear. But in the end, she's at the game. Something tells me she wasn't fearful for her or her group's safety.

I certainly don't condone any foul language or aggressive behavior. But I saw a lot of give and take with SU fans: always takes 2 to tango. My section had security guards up there for 1/2 of the game.

And please stop with the choreographed cheeers. CTO was at the GameDay show. I was there and the show's producers tell the crowd and the band when they can and can't do things to ensure the continuity of the show. The kids aren't going to stand there and go crazy for 3 hours. It's like being in a TV show and the applause light comes on.
To be criticized for that is ridiculous. She neglected to mention that Digger Phelps was the ringleader on this lack of spontaneity as he talked to the students.

But that is a fact...

 

[orange79]

CTO certainly appears to be a person of influence at SU and on your board (and on the UConn board) but her post and other leading up to the game play to two different audiences.

Her SU board posts talk about about Gampel is in the middle of no-where, no parking, 2 lane roads, mean spirited UConn fans etc. Then her final posts plays out to all the negatives of the place and our fans. Not exactly a shocker. She's playing to what the SU board wants to hear. But in the end, she's at the game. Something tells me she wasn't fearful for her or her group's safety.

I certainly don't condone any foul language or aggressive behavior. But I saw a lot of give and take with SU fans: always takes 2 to tango. My section had security guards up there for 1/2 of the game.

And please stop with the choreographed cheeers. CTO was at the GameDay show. I was there and the show's producers tell the crowd and the band when they can and can't do things to ensure the continuity of the show. The kids aren't going to stand there and go crazy for 3 hours. It's like being in a TV show and the applause light comes on.
To be criticized for that is ridiculous. She neglected to mention that Digger Phelps was the ringleader on this lack of spontaneity as he talked to the students.

I can safely say that CTO plays to no one, other than herself. If she says it, it is the truth.

 

[UConn76]

I once worked for a Uconn grad.. All of 18 months, not only was he a complete idiot, he was easily the biggest piece of to ever walk the face of the earth.

You story is not surprising.

I can see why he fired you as you can't write/spell a complete sentence.

 

[Marsh01]

CTO certainly appears to be a person of influence at SU and on your board (and on the UConn board) but her post and other leading up to the game play to two different audiences.

Her SU board posts talk about about Gampel is in the middle of no-where, no parking, 2 lane roads, mean spirited UConn fans etc. Then her final posts plays out to all the negatives of the place and our fans. Not exactly a shocker. She's playing to what the SU board wants to hear. But in the end, she's at the game. Something tells me she wasn't fearful for her or her group's safety.

I certainly don't condone any foul language or aggressive behavior. But I saw a lot of give and take with SU fans: always takes 2 to tango. My section had security guards up there for 1/2 of the game.

And please stop with the choreographed cheeers. CTO was at the GameDay show. I was there and the show's producers tell the crowd and the band when they can and can't do things to ensure the continuity of the show. The kids aren't going to stand there and go crazy for 3 hours. It's like being in a TV show and the applause light comes on.
To be criticized for that is ridiculous. She neglected to mention that Digger Phelps was the ringleader on this lack of spontaneity as he talked to the students.

Well seeing she lives in Connecticut I am confident that she has made the trip to Gampel many times and this was not a first time opinion.

Secondly I have been to Gampel as well. It is in the middle of nowhere. There is no parking and it is a pain in the ass to get out of after a game. For the record I know a lot of people here have been to Gampel so it isnt like we are 10 year olds listening to adults tell stories around the campfire.

Lastly she was referring to 30 minutes before the night time gameday telecast. I am pretty sure that Digger was piss drunk by this point and really had little interaction way up where the set was.

 

[joct]

Newbie poster here, who lives in CT. I've met some of the regulars and an admin or two over the years, but it has been a while. Thought this would be a fun place to join in.

I was at Storrs last night. While yes, some Cuse fans egged it on a little, and yes, some visitors get a rude welcome at the dome, I couldn't believe the environment at Gampel for a big-time game. Fans will go as far as they can -- my issue is what they were allowed to get away with. This isn't to implicate every UConn fan, but speak to the general atmosphere we saw:

• Walking on the concourse between the upper and lower deck, we had the same *beeping* things yelled at us as Joyce. They were yelled with extreme intensity while leaning over the railings as far as they could lean, and my wife was actually hit a couple of times -- which crosses the line. She became pretty nervous after that.

• I don't know if the people in Yellow "Event Staff" jackets counted as security, but if so, it was awful / non-existent. We could see wrappers and plastic bottles flying out to that area, at SU fans (even some instigating), with nothing done. I saw one of the "security" guys just kick it aside and laugh. Say what you want about the Dome (and it isn't all perfect), but if someone is seen throwing something they are gone. Yes, throwing a wrapper might not seem like a big deal, but if it is not stopped it leads to instigation and bigger problems.

• We sat in the front of section 12, with mostly SU fans (mentioned above). From the TV angle, follow the baseline end of the bench to the upper corner, and that's where we were. I don't know for sure, but I think there were a few player's families in our section. These baffled me, making it a frustrating night :

• • *just a quirk that ushers would have made easier* the row indicators (a,b,c,d) are on the seats themselves, not on the side. Therefore, as people are walking up, if people are sitting down, you can't tell the row you are looking for. The 1st 10 minutes were constant confusion of people looking up and down, then at their tickets and back, while asking seated people what row they are in. The unnecessary confusion by not simply putting them on the side baffles me...no one spotted this in 20 years?

• • Maybe it was just the 2nd tier corners, but there was not a single usher/security/staff to be found...leading to:
    • A couple people from the Uconn student section came over and made what I will call "obscene" gestures with their hands/arms, in front of our entire section. There were 3 kids < 8 years old in the front row. When people pointed that out it meant nothing to them.
    • A group of UConn fans kept hanging out in front of the section, leaning on the railing overlooking the court, just hanging out and talking, as if they're at the local starbucks and watching the game. They were blocking a large portion of our section. People politely asked them to move, and they acted irritated and ignored us. After a while 10 people were yelling "you are in the way", and they were irritated that we stopped their conversation, shot the section a dirty look, and kept talking. This kept going. Since there wasn't an usher/security guard to be seen, after 10 minutes of this ( by now there were 15+ people yelling), I went downstairs, walked around, and finally found someone to bring up. After utter confusion on their part as to what the problem was, they left peacefully but with a screw-you look to our section, and our section applauded. I couldn't tell if they were just completely clueless that they were in the way, or just didn't care. Either way I hadn't seen anything like it before. If there was a single usher around, it wouldn't have happened. Stand like that at the Garden or Dome for 15 seconds and you are moved along. Felt like a JV arena.

I've been to quite a few arenas, but didn't have the aggravations we hit last night. My wife went to school at Villanova (don't hold that against her), and hadn't seen some of the gestures at Eagles games. A great win made it worth it though!

Be posting more soon...

 

[rrlbees]

Newbie poster here, who lives in CT. I've met some of the regulars and an admin or two over the years, but it has been a while. Thought this would be a fun place to join in.

I was at Storrs last night. While yes, some Cuse fans egged it on a little, and yes, some visitors get a rude welcome at the dome, I couldn't believe the environment at Gampel for a big-time game. Fans will go as far as they can -- my issue is what they were allowed to get away with. This isn't to implicate every UConn fan, but speak to the general atmosphere we saw:

• Walking on the concourse between the upper and lower deck, we had the same *beeping* things yelled at us as Joyce. They were yelled with extreme intensity while leaning over the railings as far as they could lean, and my wife was actually hit a couple of times -- which crosses the line. She became pretty nervous after that.

• I don't know if the people in Yellow "Event Staff" jackets counted as security, but if so, it was awful / non-existent. We could see wrappers and plastic bottles flying out to that area, at SU fans (even some instigating), with nothing done. I saw one of the "security" guys just kick it aside and laugh. Say what you want about the Dome (and it isn't all perfect), but if someone is seen throwing something they are gone. Yes, throwing a wrapper might not seem like a big deal, but if it is not stopped it leads to instigation and bigger problems.

• We sat in the front of section 12, with mostly SU fans (mentioned above). From the TV angle, follow the baseline end of the bench to the upper corner, and that's where we were. I don't know for sure, but I think there were a few player's families in our section. These baffled me, making it a frustrating night :

• • *just a quirk that ushers would have made easier* the row indicators (a,b,c,d) are on the seats themselves, not on the side. Therefore, as people are walking up, if people are sitting down, you can't tell the row you are looking for. The 1st 10 minutes were constant confusion of people looking up and down, then at their tickets and back, while asking seated people what row they are in. The unnecessary confusion by not simply putting them on the side baffles me...no one spotted this in 20 years?

• • Maybe it was just the 2nd tier corners, but there was not a single usher/security/staff to be found...leading to:
    • A couple people from the Uconn student section came over and made what I will call "obscene" gestures with their hands/arms, in front of our entire section. There were 3 kids < 8 years old in the front row. When people pointed that out it meant nothing to them.
    • A group of UConn fans kept hanging out in front of the section, leaning on the railing overlooking the court, just hanging out and talking, as if they're at the local starbucks and watching the game. They were blocking a large portion of our section. People politely asked them to move, and they acted irritated and ignored us. After a while 10 people were yelling "you are in the way", and they were irritated that we stopped their conversation, shot the section a dirty look, and kept talking. This kept going. Since there wasn't an usher/security guard to be seen, after 10 minutes of this ( by now there were 15+ people yelling), I went downstairs, walked around, and finally found someone to bring up. After utter confusion on their part as to what the problem was, they left peacefully but with a screw-you look to our section, and our section applauded. I couldn't tell if they were just completely clueless that they were in the way, or just didn't care. Either way I hadn't seen anything like it before. If there was a single usher around, it wouldn't have happened. Stand like that at the Garden or Dome for 15 seconds and you are moved along. Felt like a JV arena.

I've been to quite a few arenas, but didn't have the aggravations we hit last night. My wife went to school at Villanova (don't hold that against her), and hadn't seen some of the gestures at Eagles games. A great win made it worth it though!

Be posting more soon...

That might be the longest 1st post I have ever seen. Welcome.

 

[UConn76]

Well seeing she lives in Connecticut I am confident that she has made the trip to Gampel many times and this was not a first time opinion.

Secondly I have been to Gampel as well. It is in the middle of nowhere. There is no parking and it is a pain in the ass to get out of after a game. For the record I know a lot of people here have been to Gampel so it isnt like we are 10 year olds listening to adults tell stories around the campfire.

Lastly she was referring to 30 minutes before the night time gameday telecast. I am pretty sure that Digger was piss drunk by this point and really had little interaction way up where the set was.

Certainly nothing against her personally, but after a while if you don't like a place, you don't go there. Otherwise, it's really not as bad as you make it out to be. Gampel is a great on-campus facility and I prefer games there versus the rather sterile HCC. When I lived in NY it would take me 2 hours to drive there. And trust me to say that parking out past Manley Field House and getting back to Interstate 81 is no picnic as I've been to lots of football and basketball games at the Dome.

And being critical of college kids for not being spontaneous when you really don't want them to be spontaneous is a bit of stretch.

 

[Marsh01]

Certainly nothing against her personally, but after a while if you don't like a place, you don't go there. Otherwise, it's really not as bad as you make it out to be. Gampel is a great on-campus facility and I prefer games there versus the rather sterile HCC. When I lived in NY it would take me 2 hours to drive there. And trust me to say that parking out past Manley Field House and getting back to Interstate 81 is no picnic as I've been to lots of football and basketball games at the Dome.

And being critical of college kids for not being spontaneous when you really don't want them to be spontaneous is a bit of stretch.

Thats why Syracuse fans are different. They would go to hell if Satan coached a team.

 

[joct]

That might be the longest 1st post I have ever seen. Welcome.

Thanks...had to get the frustrations off my chest.

 

[cto]

Bottomline Oka...splain this

You have two well dressed folks around 70 years old with a young child PREGAME unprovoked being accosted with obscenities from your students. How is that classy? BTW, these are the types of folks that hire and fire young punks outta college.

Also, pregame choreographed cheers...that is spontaneous in your book?

Decided to take a look at this entire thread, and Mark gets what I was trying to say. My friend and I WERE old enough to be those students' grandparents, and as much as I hate to admit it, we probably looked it (my friend has pure white hair, for example). And we were with a sixth-grader who is small for his age. We were doing nothing but walking along a horizontal aisle in front of the student section. The abuse heaped upon us was totally unprovoked, and it really frightened the child. The students were leaning over a railing and were practically on top of us while they were yelling at us. Our only crime was to wear orange.

 

[caw]

That much is true.

Thank you for underscoring my point.

 

[Bayside44]

Joyce...have seen the same at Georgetown.

As you know, the walk from the metro to Clydes makes you pass by all the Gtown students who line up for their one game a year. Now I have no problem with them cursing at me, tends to happen to me on the streets of DC anyway. But I did see an older woman get really heckled, she was scared, so I walked with her. I am pretty sure other female posters here had similar experiences. Those kids were jerks.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Joyce...have seen the same at Georgetown.

As you know, the walk from the metro to Clydes makes you pass by all the Gtown students who line up for their one game a year. Now I have no problem with them cursing at me, tends to happen to me on the streets of DC anyway. But I did see an older woman get really heckled, she was scared, so I walked with her. I am pretty sure other female posters here had similar experiences. Those kids were jerks.

Last year we had some really strange experiences at the Georgetown game. My husband and I also walked a tough gauntlet of students like Bayside mentioned, however I expected students to be verbally abusive and kept poking my husband to keep walking and not react because he wasn't happy.

So then we got inside and went to our great seats (compliments of our son Jamie) in what they had said was a sellout game. It wasn't at all. Right before we sat down we saw a GT t-shirt on each seat so we picked them up and sat down. Immediately 2 young student aged ushers came up and asked us to give them the t-shirts. We didn't really care but what a strange request since we were surrounded by empty seats with t-shirts on them.We could have taken 20 of them if we wanted to.

After they left and we sat down again, then 2 older GT administrators of some sort with badges came over to us and said "we'd like to know how you got these seats. These were reserved for Georgetown fans." Now I was getting a bit peeved over the entire deal. I pointed to all the empty seats around me and said "why does it matter? Where are all these other invisible Georgetown fans for this supposed sellout?" The woman replied, we really need to know how you got them because GT fans weren't supposed to sell their tickets." I was sick of it and said "my son got them on stubhub, maybe you don't have as many fans as you think." The 2 of them just left. Wierd people - talk about Hoya paranoia and this was all before the game even started.

Well we ran the gauntlet again after the win but I have to admit many SU fans were now giving it right back. It was more than a fair "fight" afterwards as plenty of SU fans reminded the GT fans who won with loud constant cheering.

I have to admit I had no issues with the UConn fans at UConn despite being in their midst for the football game this past season. I wasn't around students though - all adults.

The Georgetown administration is very strange though.

 

[zls44]

UConn has a number you can call or text if you have any issues with fans being jerks. They advertised it right before the game, as well as a video from the UC BB team asking for good sportsmanship. It was right there, and Joyce, you could have called it. Shouldn't have had to, but it was there. If people are going to be jerks, they're going to be jerks, no matter the school/location. I don't know what to tell you. It sucks.

Everything about Gampel that you hate is why we love it. It's also why the job Jim Calhoun has done is a G-d damn miracle. When you go to Storrs, you understand how incredible the job he's done is. To get top-level basketball players to go there. It's cold, it's desolate, it's dark, the traffic sucks, there's more cows than people, there's only two bars, the state cops police the joint like it's the Brandenberg Gate crossing in 1965...and I love the damn place.

 

[All4SU]

It's simple math. 8.37% of all people are idiots. With 10,000 people there, 837 of them will be idiots. With 33,000 folks in attendance, 2,762 of them will be idiots.
If you are with 9 other people, and they all seem all right, it might be you.

 

[UConn76]

Decided to take a look at this entire thread, and Mark gets what I was trying to say. My friend and I WERE old enough to be those students' grandparents, and as much as I hate to admit it, we probably looked it (my friend has pure white hair, for example). And we were with a sixth-grader who is small for his age. We were doing nothing but walking along a horizontal aisle in front of the student section. The abuse heaped upon us was totally unprovoked, and it really frightened the child. The students were leaning over a railing and were practically on top of us while they were yelling at us. Our only crime was to wear orange.

Obviously no excuse for any of that. I was there with my wife and 2 daughters and security needs to throw those kids out and better yet, take away their right to attend future games.

The thing that gets to me on these types of threads is that UConn, Gampel, and all of our fans get broadbrushed with negativity. I know it's a small population sample, but some of these posts say things no better than what our students were yelling at you.

Again, no excuse and hope to see you at future Gampel games. This rivalry is too good to give up.

 

[TexanMark]

Obviously no excuse for any of that. I was there with my wife and 2 daughters and security needs to throw those kids out and better yet, take away their right to attend future games.

The thing that gets to me on these types of threads is that UConn, Gampel, and all of our fans get broadbrushed with negativity. I know it's a small population sample, but some of these posts say things no better than what our students were yelling at you.

Again, no excuse and hope to see you at future Gampel games. This rivalry is too good to give up.

Speaking of broadbrushing...have you read your own boards about Cuse fans? Two way street.

I enjoy reading " Cuse and their fans" posts by some of your more mature posters.

 

[Mistakebythelake90]

As a senior now at Syracuse, I've sat practically front row student section for all the big games on campus in my time here (I'm in the pep band). The worst I've seen from our student section was some good natured ahole chants at fans walking by, and when they put the Georgetown student section next to our student section, which was an incredibly stupid decision. Although the G-town students shouldn't have had stuff thrown at them, they were not innocent in the ordeal - they were egging on the SU student section the whole game. Honestly though, I've never seen the level of vitriol from our student section described in this thread.

 

[TheRoyalIveyFund]

I have been to some hostile and noisey venues in my life, but Gampel tonight won the prize.

My friend, his grandson and I arrived a early (around 7:30) because they had never been there and wanted to see it. So we walked around the inside of the arena a bit. When we walked in front of the smaller of two student sections (the one behind the UConn basket), the students there unleashed an unprintable torrent of expletives at us because we were wearing orange. My friend's young grandson was literally frightened by them. They were that vicious and obscene.

During the 30 minutes before the "Game Day" telecast began, the students in the larger student section (the one behind the SU basket) were led through a rehearsal of their cheers by someone on the PA system. It was all choreographed. They were told what to do at each time out throughout the game. And they practiced it. I had never seen that before. And ESPN iikes Game Day in small on-campus venues because of the spontaneous student enthusiasm. I hope they noticed.

A guy two rows behind us screamed expletives at JB all game long. At one point, security told him that he would be asked to leave if he kept it up. He kept it up, and they never came back. (Really pleasant environment. It was all we heard in our ears all game long).

And now the worse part: the students behind the SU basket. In the second half, when UConn made its sustained charge, they made more noise than I have ever heard at a basketball game. And they really tormented the SU players when they attempted free throws or any other shots in the second half. They were so loud during timeouts (the choreographed cheers) that we wondered whether the players could hear anything JB was saying to them. We couldn't hear each other.

I was sitting near someone who has been at many more game at many more venues than I have, and I asked him whether he had ever been in such a hostile environment. He said he could not think of one.

Unless UConn follows us to the ACC, this will probably be out last game ever at Gampel. I for one will not be unhappy.

PS, at the end of the game, someone collected all the signs used by the students in the student section. They had not been spontaneous signs made by students. They were produced by the school and distributed to the students. (Even the big heads).

When I read these posts, it makes me think of a few things. First, people like you are the reason why we have the best away record in the BE history, we travel so well in the NE. It is noticed by fans watching on tv, recruits, players, etc...thanks. I also wonder if that all goes away with our move. All those games right around NYC now will be gone. Sure, we'll have pockets of fans in the DC area but less seats to be filled and fewer games available. Also, I wonder if there is a next generation of those like yourself that will take over the reins and show the support you've shown for the last 20-30 years.

 

[UConn76]

Speaking of broadbrushing...have you read your own boards about Cuse fans? Two way street.

I enjoy reading " Cuse and their fans" posts by some of your more mature posters.

Trust me, I don't like/write those kinds of posts. Unfortunately, we have losers on both boards.

FYI, my brother and I stopped by your tailgate at Rentschler this past season. He is an SU undergrad and law school graduate. Looking forward to the SU tailgate in Minneapolis next year as my wife and I live there.

 

[orange2win]

To

Decided to take a look at this entire thread, and Mark gets what I was trying to say. My friend and I WERE old enough to be those students' grandparents, and as much as I hate to admit it, we probably looked it (my friend has pure white hair, for example). And we were with a sixth-grader who is small for his age. We were doing nothing but walking along a horizontal aisle in front of the student section. The abuse heaped upon us was totally unprovoked, and it really frightened the child. The students were leaning over a railing and were practically on top of us while they were yelling at us. Our only crime was to wear orange.

Totally unacceptable behaviour as described.

It should however be borne in mind that this was more than the traditional rivalry. BE fans now consider us traitors and retrogrades.