Tuesday, September 16, 2008
KU fans who traveled to Tampa, Fla., to watch the Jayhawks Friday night expected to see a great college football game between two ranked teams.
Not only were fans disappointed by the 37-34 loss, but they also thought some South Florida fans were rude and disrespectful.
“I’ve gone to KU games all over the place, and this was absolutely the worst experience I have ever had at an opposing field,” said Pat Porzelt, 1987 graduate and Kansas football season ticket-holder.
Porzelt said that the insults were heaved by both men, women, students and adults and that they started before the game and lasted until well after it was over.
South Florida fans celebrate after their 37-34 victory on Friday night. Some Kansas fans have complained that the South Florida fans cussed at them and insulted them. Fans have sent e-mails to USF's athletics department, and officials say they are looking into complaints.
“I was walking through the parking lot, and a guy got in my face and started calling me names that I have never been called in my entire life,” Porzelt said. “And that was before the game even started. It was pretty bad. I can’t even tell you some of the things people said because they aren’t printable.”
Because South Florida has had problems with the student body’s behavior at games in the past, the school started a campaign called “Be Respect-A-Bull,” which was “aimed at promoting a higher level of pride, sportsmanship and honor,” according to South Florida’s athletics department’s Web site goUSFbulls.com,
Chris Freet, assistant athletics director for communication at South Florida, said that the school was aware of the behavior on Friday night and that it was looking into ways to improve it.
“We know there’s at least a couple of instances from Kansas fans that had negative experiences this weekend,” Freet said. “Unfortunately, not everyone is abiding by the idea of respecting the incoming fans and the visiting team. Later on this week, we will try to find some resolutions to ensure better experience for visiting teams. One problem is too many problems.”
Hostility among fans is nothing new in college football. A small number of Nebraska fans had their tires slashed by Kansas students during a game at Memorial Stadium in 2003.
Ken Short, Topeka graduate student, made the trip to Tampa with two friends and expected to talk football with some USF fans. He said a few were complimentary of Kansas, but a large portion of the fans flipped him off, cussed at him and insulted him.
“I’m prepared for that kind of behavior at a Missouri game or a Kansas State game, but not at a non-conference game in September against a team we’ve played one time,” Short said. “We all had our blue on, and a large portion of the fans just hurled insults at us and were disrespectful to us and just treated us very badly.”
Some fans e-mailed the athletics department at South Florida voicing their displeasure.
Brent Kassing, KU alumnus living in Orlando, Fla., drove to Tampa with his wife and two young children for the game. He said he was so upset with what he saw that he immediately e-mailed officials at South Florida when he got home.
“Try getting to the stadium in there where you have to walk by giant beer bongs with hundreds of students all chugging beer,” Kassing wrote in the e-mail, which was also sent to The University Daily Kansan. “How do I explain that to my children? How do you get into the gate safely without fearing for your life and your kids?”
Kassing also wrote, “Inside the stadium, in the Kansas section, things weren’t any better. USF students who walked by or were within the section seemed more interested in taunting and foul language than the game. I saw some older KU fans (if you count 50s as older) outraged and potentially looking to jump over the rails to strangle those kids.”
Short and his friends said that they would travel to at least one more road game this season and that they hoped the atmosphere in the stands would be better than what they experienced in Tampa.
“I expect it to be much better,” Short said. “It would be hard to be any worse.”
— — Edited by Lauren Keith
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Comments
MJMcDonough (anonymous) says...
First off, on behalf of all USF alumni, boosters, and season ticket holders, let me personally apologize to anybody who was on the receiving end of poor treatment at Friday's game in Tampa. We are a new program and experiencing unprecedented growth, and those of us who graduated from USF and who have grown along with this program are equally incensed at the poor hospitality shown by some of our younger fans. It is unfortunate that a small portion of our new fans act in such a way that has caused such a negative impression on our Kansas visitors. Those young idiots are NOT representative of our overall fan base. Rather, they are punks who incorrectly assume that buying a ticket to a sporting event gives you a license to treat others with disrespect, an assumption that ALL of us feel is incorrect.
Rest assured that there are many USF Alumni who are on the lookout for such behavior and will not hesitate to correct those who need correcting. I personally sat next to numerous Kansas fans at the game and we had a great time discussing the game, critiquing the refs, and enjoying what was a tremendous game. I again apologize, and wish success for Kansas during the remainder of their season.
Matt
September 16, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Apis (anonymous) says...
I too would like to appologize for some of our fans behavior. The school, as well as the alumni, are taken steps to try to eliminate this.
Please rest assured that this is not how the majority of our fans act and most of us find this behavior unactable.
Michael
September 16, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...
I've been to EVERY Big XII stadium, Columbia twice, the 2007 Border War and all three bowl games of the Coach Mangino era ...
What took place in Tampa was by FAR the worst experience I've ever encountered, never before any where did I have to roll my car windows up because of the profanity and abuse - this includes Columbia and Manhattan.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I will take this opportunity to praise the Texas A&M and Virginia Tech fans ...
September 16, 2008 at 10:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BullFreak (anonymous) says...
Dear KU fans,
I for one want to send my deepest apology for the behavior of some of the bull fans you encountered at the KU vs USF game. I tell all my friends we need to be like the Auburn fans who I feel are some of the best in all of college football. In the south football is king but sadly some of our fans do not realize that it doesn’t give us the right to be total asses. We are not all that bad and if you sat in donor level or in the South End zones I can insure you would have had a great time. The people in the 300 sections are for the most part not season ticket holders and I assure you they do not represent USF and its Alumni. For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be a BULL
Again please accept my apology.
Gary Blackman
USF c/o 2005
September 16, 2008 at 11:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
honestly_folks (anonymous) says...
Seriously, it's a little hard to read complaints from a fanbase which has had its members busted for throwing human urine in bottles at opposing fans visiting its home stadium in Lawrence.....and the Nebraska game is not the only time the fine people of Lawrence have slashed the tires of their visitors. So some of you went to Tampa and got taunted....well, that's not great, and hopefully things improve in Tampa. However, the rest of us hope our hosts in Lawrence will be a little more honest with themselves when others come to play KU.
As for the complaint about kids drinking from beer bongs, this is also part and parcel of college celebrations in Lawrence, KS. While it may be in poor taste to do so in public, it most certainly is not a life-threatening activity; at least to passers-by. A little less over-the-top hysteria will lend a little more credibility to the rest of your complaints.
September 16, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CoachMangino (anonymous) says...
Guys come on, it's one thing to have a wuss as a QB but it's another thing to have a wuss fanbase.
Let's suck it up!!!
September 16, 2008 at 11:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hickok (anonymous) says...
Wow this sounds exactly like my experience in Lawrence. I have never experienced such rude fans as KU fans when I went to a game there 2 years ago. I guess what comes around goes around!!!!
September 16, 2008 at 12:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
01KUgrad (anonymous) says...
We probably need to take an honest look at ourselves, and the "Rip his f____ing head off" that our student section chants to visitors.
September 16, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Slatta (anonymous) says...
I understand exactly how you feel, I attended an MU-KU game in Larryville a few years ago. Students urinating in broad daylight in front of houses,unprovoked profanity laced attacks, wife and daughter physically intimidated in restroom line, vehicle scratched down the side(had MU license plates). Vowed never to go to Lawrence,KS for anything ever again.
September 16, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mu65 (anonymous) says...
First off you KU fans are a bunch of cry baby losers. If you cant take the heat get out of the kitchen. I took my two children to Arrowhead last year and your worthless KU Fans yelled out insults, used foul language and someone even tried to grab my sons sign until they saw how big I was, then they curled up in a ball and apoligized to me, then I told them to apologize to my son, and they did so, like a little chicken hawk coward. I learned my lesson, college punks are punks and you dont take your kids to an atmosphere like that or warn them in advance what to expect. In a nutshell, your fans suck as bad or worse.
September 16, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
zj (anonymous) says...
as a ksu fan in KC. my wife wants to attend the game in lawrence this year and I don't want to because the last time we went to a KSU-KU game I had a gentleman and his friend threaten to "piss in my mouth, because that's what I should be tasting" while sitting in the stadium. I have also witnessed terrible KSU fans in manhattan vs NU while in college. I guess my point is this article is throwing stones and there are a lot of glass houses around the big XII my alma mater included.
September 16, 2008 at 1:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mizzou541 (anonymous) says...
If you can't handle college students drinking too much in the parking lot before games, maybe college football isn't for you. I'll remember to note inappropriate things I see coming from kU fans at Arrowhead this November. I'm not saying we're not just as guilty but stop looking for things to cry about becuase you just realized that Kansas is simply an above average football team...nothing more.
September 16, 2008 at 1:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...
I'll second that, sevenyearhawk...A&M fans are the classiest I've ever encountered.
September 16, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
IrishRebelMom (anonymous) says...
As a resident of Tampa Bay and a proud KU Mom (as my bumper sticker proclaims when I drive through Tampa Bay), I think it's a shame that KU came to Tampa and some of the Jayhawk fans were insulted. Unfortunately, it's far too common these days on EVERY campus. I think that we should welcome our (rival) guests and embrace them in the name of the game - because, in the end, it's not whether you win or lost, but how you played and how gracious your fans are! I, too, apologize for those USF fans that have not learned respect for others and would hope that KU fans would remember to respect (rival) guests who play at KU as well!
September 17, 2008 at 11:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jonnibeth05 (anonymous) says...
I am sorry that KU fans didn't have a good experience, but as an underrated, unappreciated team we tend to treat every game like it's the big game. Unlike some of the bigger, more noticed schools we can't afford to lose a game. We are very passionate about every game, every point and every play. We may take it a bit to far, but when someone is threatening something you love are you telling me you wouldn't stand up for it? If you wouldn't you aren't a true fan, whatever your team may be. We didn't hit you, throw things at you, or threaten your elderly or your children. So chop it up to college students will be college students and start worry about winning you next game, because as of this point NC State is the most important team on our schedule and you are just a memory. Move on and play your game and stop worrying about us.
September 23, 2008 at 8:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )