Lv-Bills Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 I guess I was at a different game, or got lucky and missed it all. 696496[/snapback] Yeah, you must have, because apparently you are the only one to miss all of this......there are TONS of posts all over the Canes boards......Here are some from just the NHL Carolina site alone. And these are just a few.....this has never happened at any other time, anywhere near this extent. Here are some examples...... Newspaper Article - Most seemed to be Buffalo fans. Some Canes fans also though! Ashamed Buffalo Fan Writes in More Sabres fans apologizing Discussion on behavior More from a season ticket holder Another Sabres fan apologizing Habs vs. Sabres fans Sabres and Parking lot trash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Yes. The Maple Leafs had about 4,000 fans at RBC in 2002 during the Eastern Conference Finals. It was an awesome time. I don't remember one fight, or one incident in the parking lot. They were loud, partied all day with Carolina fans, and there were tons of them It was an awesome atmosphere. Leafs fans came down, shared their traditions, and fit in well. They were loud, boisterous, and respectful. It was a great time. I remember, there were like 5,000 beer cans in the middle of the lot near the football stadium and both Leafs and Carolina fans built a huge cup out of empties. It was cool as hell. Canadians were trading BLue Lights for Americans Krispy Kreme's. I can't even remember seeing a fight, or a problem. Now, flip that on Saturday......and it seemed that a ton of Sabres fans were piss ass drunk and falling all over the place. There were a ton of Sabres fans all together throwing meat and food at Carolina fans cars on the way out of RBC until the cops came and arrested the jackasses. And this was a group of around 50 Sabres fans standing at the exit to the parking lot where there were 3 lanes of sitting traffic located. I saw two Sabres fans getting arrested at the tailgate tent where the band was between RBC and the football stadium for pissing on the backside of the trailer where they were selling BBQ. I've never seen security breaking up fights inside of the RBC Center during a game. I saw it about 5 times on Saturday, and twice in the concourses. It went on and on and on. I was like, man, this is horrible. The newspapers, TV, and radio stations all picked up on it also. There are a ton of threads all over every Carolina message board about the fans behavior. It's not an accident that so many people in Raleigh were appalled. I've never seen anything close to this before form any other team's fans. Ever. But oh well, everyone will get over it. However, Buffalo truly embarrassed itself this weekend in terms of grown men acting like they were 17 yrs old again. That reputation will stick with Sabres fans for a long time, unfortunately. 696493[/snapback] all that is missing is some soccer style urine bombs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewin Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 But understand that in Carolina, it seems to be acceptable to bring toddlers and children to the game. I don't get that logic. Wow - look at what you just wrote. Therein lies I think the crux of the 'cultural' difference which collided this weekend. The fact is that it is 'acceptable' to bring kids and toddlers to Hurricanes games because in general the home fan base behaves like civilized human beings. AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. Some people (not all) from Buffalo came down and the behavior which they considered 'acceptable' simply wasn't viewed that way by people who were typically spared from such displays of obnoxious drunken behavior. Believe me - I'm far from a prude - and I've seen it all as far as atttending pro sporting events go (my most vivid memory of Rich stadium as a child was seeing a drunk passed out with his dick hanging out of his pants literally pissing on himself). I know what to expect when I go to a Bills game or similar venue and I usually have a good time when I go. The fact is, however, that at Hurricanes games being drunk, obnoxious and obscene is *not* the norm - so you have to look at it within that context as well. Personally - I much prefer being able to take my kids to a sporting event with a rabid yet civilized crowd than a bunch of obnixious drunk a s s h o l e s - but that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 I'm most likely going to get nailed for this but here goes. I have been a Bills fan since I was eight years old, before the Panthers existed, so I had the entire NFL to choose from. I picked the Bills because I had a friend whose father was from Oswego and rooted for Buffalo. I would go to his house every Sunday and watch football with them. I fell in love with the team; his father said that WNY was a lot like Eastern Carolina in terms of the type of people that lived in the region. I assumed that he represented a lot of the type of person from the Buffalo area, not the city type of guy that would come down from NYC. I am from Eastern NC, my family owns a farm, we work hard, my brother went to Yale, I have a cousin who went to Cornell, I went to NC State, then went to Duke for law school, all of my friends are from the eastern portion of NC, all are college educated, we have all our teeth, we all know how to read. One thing I have issue with is every time somebody talks negative about the Sabres during this series everybody on here starts dumping on my region of the state where I grew up and was raised. It's where a good bit of you have never been or will ever visit, but seem pretty confident of your knowledge based on repeated viewings of the Andy Griffith Show. I guess there are no rural areas in New York State, its just NYC and Buffalo, no farming, no agriculture, just skyscrapers and banking. We sell a lot of our product to farms in WNY and other than an accent and some eating habits, there's not a whole lot of difference. I guess I should assume that every Bill and Sabre fan from the area either works for GEICO or has been laid off by Kodak because that's what I see on TV and hear on the radio. The redneck references to Raleigh are especially humorous since there are so many transplanted New Yorkers that have come down here. I don't get how you quantify our education levels based our knowledge of a sport that has been here in the mainstream less than ten years. Maybe we should just stop going to games; Raleigh should stop writing about the only professional sport in their region of the state because the fans are just stupid and haven't caught on, I'm shocked any of them have the money to go. I went to the game last Saturday, I asked the guy in my row in the Sabres jersey what he thought about drafting John McCargo and how neat it was that the Bills had someone from State for the first time since Damian Covington, he was nice all the way up until during the second period (after the drinking kicked in) when he called the family sitting in front of me a bunch of dumb redneck fans for not knowing that there is no icing during a power play. He also complained about the beer, the arena, the fans, the traffic pattern, the fact that there were basketball jerseys hanging in the rafters, he also informed me that the Hurricanes used to be in Hartford, I'm glad he told me, I had no idea. His buddy (he didn't wear a Sabres jersey, but told me he was from Rochester) kept chanting "!@#$ the hurricanes" in front of my eight year old daughter, when I asked him to stop he said I shouldn't bring a child to a hockey game. My wife had a lot of fun explaining to her what that meant after the game. I will keep rooting for the Bills, I even rooted for the Sabres during the regular season because of their location and I extremely doubt that the majority of you would behave that way in public, but don't get on here and slam our fans and native North Carolinians when the only thing you can send to Raleigh is the classless trash that I have seen. 696462[/snapback] Sorry you had a bad experience. One question, why didn't you get an usher to help you get the guy who was swearing in front of your kid to leave or at least stop swearing? Should you ever be in that situation again, you might want to consider it. Also, I have been to many Sabres - Loafs games, and while most of the fans are as other Carolinians describe them, there are a few bad apples in that bunch as well. I don't tar the entire Loaf fan base on my experience with a few of them. I'm sorry that your experience was such that you now view the Sabres fans as lower than Filly fans. As for the fights, I wasn't there so I can't comment much, but I am assuming the fights weren't between Sabres fans. Could there be any possibility that the fights were started by Carolina fans that were frustrated at seeing their team lose in a building that was cheering as loudly for the Sabres as it was for the Canes? I have never seen a fight get started by a fan cheering for the winning team. If Sabres fans were "taunting" the Canes fans, then it's their bad and I would not be shocked to hear there was some of that, but from what I have heard / read there was a fair amount of violence started by frustrated Caniacs. As for people throwing stuff at cars, that's stupid and it sounds like security took care of it. Lastly, it appears that fans of both teams and regions want to "talk smack". We've gotten quite a few of the blizzard, failing economy, Irish, Polish, Italian, etc., etc. jokes through the years and again in this playoff year. Most of us have developed a thick skin to deal with it. From everything I can tell, your region is doing pretty well. I would suggest you learn to laugh at jokes that you believe are ignorant (bunch of red neck, NASCAR loving, Mayberry residents, etc., etc.) or better yet, just laugh at the people telling the jokes. That's what most of us do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 C'mon Buffalo fans, this is not acceptable behaviour for a hockey game, save it for the Nascar Track where it belongs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMadCap Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Wow - look at what you just wrote. Therein lies I think the crux of the 'cultural' difference which collided this weekend. The fact is that it is 'acceptable' to bring kids and toddlers to Hurricanes games because in general the home fan base behaves like civilized human beings. AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. Some people (not all) from Buffalo came down and the behavior which they considered 'acceptable' simply wasn't viewed that way by people who were typically spared from such displays of obnoxious drunken behavior. Believe me - I'm far from a prude - and I've seen it all as far as atttending pro sporting events go (my most vivid memory of Rich stadium as a child was seeing a drunk passed out with his dick hanging out of his pants literally pissing on himself). I know what to expect when I go to a Bills game or similar venue and I usually have a good time when I go. The fact is, however, that at Hurricanes games being drunk, obnoxious and obscene is *not* the norm - so you have to look at it within that context as well. Personally - I much prefer being able to take my kids to a sporting event with a rabid yet civilized crowd than a bunch of obnixious drunk a s s h o l e s - but that's just me. 696516[/snapback] Agreed, see my above post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Yeah, you must have, because apparently you are the only one to miss all of this......there are TONS of posts all over the Canes boards......Here are some from just the NHL Carolina site alone. And these are just a few.....this has never happened at any other time, anywhere near this extent. Here are some examples...... Newspaper Article - Most seemed to be Buffalo fans. Some Canes fans also though! Ashamed Buffalo Fan Writes in More Sabres fans apologizing Discussion on behavior More from a season ticket holder Another Sabres fan apologizing Habs vs. Sabres fans Sabres and Parking lot trash 696513[/snapback] 4 arrests, some trash, some heavy drinking, some people apologizing that weren't there. How was game 2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kegtapr Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 But oh well, everyone will get over it. However, Buffalo truly embarrassed itself this weekend in terms of grown men acting like they were 17 yrs old again. That reputation will stick with Sabres fans for a long time, unfortunately. 696493[/snapback] No, no, no, no........a bunch of Sabres fans truly embarrassed themselves over the weekend, not Buffalo. Lumping the handfull of idiotic Sabres fans with the whole of Buffalo is as retarded as lumping the handfull of redneck, cousin loving hicks with the whole of Carolina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Good God people, get a grip. It's the playoffs. People are going to drink and be loud, and yes, some people will be obnoxious drunks. I'm sure there were quite a few drunk Carolina fans there as well who contributed to the unrest. Unbelievable. Nobody cares. LV-Bills, apparently our resident Carolina expert from Pennsylvania, has seen only the finest wine-and-cheese fans the Leafs have to offer. Please. Spare us your soapbox. Carolina wins game 1 and there's not a peep spoken about any of this. The Sabres win, and the fans cry that someone said "Schit!" in front of their seven-year old daughter who was peacefully trying to color in her coloring book during the second period. Sabres victory = Many loud Buffalo fans = drunk = wah wah somebody swore at me and left garbage in the parking lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 No, no, no, no........a bunch of Sabre fans truly embarrassed themselves over the weekend, not Buffalo. Lumping the handfull of idiotic Sabres fans with the whole of Buffalo is as retarded as lumping the handfull of redneck, cousin loving hicks with the whole of Carolina. 696535[/snapback] I was going to put it more succintly: there's ass holes in every crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudweiser Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Wow - look at what you just wrote. 696516[/snapback] Yes Steve - look at what I wrote. I have two toddlers and wouldn't think of bringing them to a hockey game. That's just common sense on my part. If you think a hockey crowd in Raleigh is tough, may I invite you to attend a NASCAR race in Charlotte with me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lv-Bills Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 4 arrests, some trash, some heavy drinking, some people apologizing that weren't there. How was game 2? 696531[/snapback] Unbelievable. LOL. I'll just leave it alone. Many Sabres fans seem to be OK with how they were branded this weekend. Really nice that your standards are so high. Anyway, game 2 was alot better, but there weren't all that many Sabre fans there. I would estimate about 2,000 to 3,000 there on Saturday, where last night it seemed about half of that, if not even less. Obviously a bunch of Buffalo fans were able to come Saturday because it was a weekend. Anyway, I'm done. Whether you want to stick your heads in the sand or not, Buffalo created quite a reputation for itself this weekend, and it wasn't a good one. I personally am done with this, and off to some actual game talk! Good Luck to both teams the rest of the way. HOpefully it's a 7 gamer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevbeau Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Good God people, get a grip. It's the playoffs. People are going to drink and be loud, and yes, some people will be obnoxious drunks. I'm sure there were quite a few drunk Carolina fans there as well who contributed to the unrest. Unbelievable. Nobody cares. LV-Bills, apparently our resident Carolina expert from Pennsylvania, has seen only the finest wine-and-cheese fans the Leafs have to offer. Please. Spare us your soapbox. Carolina wins game 1 and there's not a peep spoken about any of this. The Sabres win, and the fans cry that someone said "Schit!" in front of their seven-year old daughter who was peacefully trying to color in her coloring book during the second period. Sabres victory = Many loud Buffalo fans = drunk = wah wah somebody swore at me and left garbage in the parking lot 696537[/snapback] Exactly. I'm willing to bet the majority of people who were able to make the last minute trip down to Raleigh aren't exactly loaded up with work, school or family responsibilities. Hence you get the I don't give a @#$% crowd. From all the bitching and moaning one would think that there was a full scale NBA riot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtdoak Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 I was AT the game on Saturday. Buffalo fans were drunk and loud. Your point is? I'm sure a few of them did stupid things associated with drinking too much. Nothing you won't see when NC State fans go to an away basketball game in droves. The Canes fans were more angry that Buffalo fans had the nerve to drive down 11 hrs and root for their team and have a good time than anything Buffalo fans did. There were more than a fair share of very kind, nice Carolina fans, but there were also more than a fair share of rude, "how dare you buy up all the tickets we didn't buy for 5 days then come here and root for your team" Carolina doesn't see hockey as something to be passionate about yet, the Eastern Conference Finals isn't more exciting to them as any regular season game. They'll get there in a few years, but they just don't get it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 I was going to put it more succintly: there's ass holes in every crowd. 696538[/snapback] I could not have said it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Unbelievable. LOL. I'll just leave it alone. Many Sabres fans seem to be OK with how they were branded this weekend. Really nice that your standards are so high. Anyway, game 2 was alot better, but there weren't all that many Sabre fans there. I would estimate about 2,000 to 3,000 there on Saturday, where last night it seemed about half of that, if not even less. Obviously a bunch of Buffalo fans were able to come Saturday because it was a weekend. Anyway, I'm done. Whether you want to stick your heads in the sand or not, Buffalo created quite a reputation for itself this weekend, and it wasn't a good one. I personally am done with this, and off to some actual game talk! Good Luck to both teams the rest of the way. HOpefully it's a 7 gamer. 696540[/snapback] Thanks for your southernly breeze of smarm. I don't feel that my behavior was innapropriate. And I have nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe some Sabres fans that were there can't say the same thing. I guess we will have to live with the fact that Raleigh thinks poorly of an entire city based the actions of a few. I only saw what I saw. And let me suggest this. Change that sign on the ice to "The most delicate fans in the NHL" Have a nice day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kegtapr Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 I guess we will have to live with the fact that Raleigh thinks poorly of an entire city based the actions of a few. 696552[/snapback] Ironic, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevbeau Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Ironic, isn't it? 696553[/snapback] I know I'll be losing sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Wow - look at what you just wrote. Therein lies I think the crux of the 'cultural' difference which collided this weekend. The fact is that it is 'acceptable' to bring kids and toddlers to Hurricanes games because in general the home fan base behaves like civilized human beings. AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. Some people (not all) from Buffalo came down and the behavior which they considered 'acceptable' simply wasn't viewed that way by people who were typically spared from such displays of obnoxious drunken behavior. Believe me - I'm far from a prude - and I've seen it all as far as atttending pro sporting events go (my most vivid memory of Rich stadium as a child was seeing a drunk passed out with his dick hanging out of his pants literally pissing on himself). I know what to expect when I go to a Bills game or similar venue and I usually have a good time when I go. The fact is, however, that at Hurricanes games being drunk, obnoxious and obscene is *not* the norm - so you have to look at it within that context as well. Personally - I much prefer being able to take my kids to a sporting event with a rabid yet civilized crowd than a bunch of obnixious drunk a s s h o l e s - but that's just me. 696516[/snapback] Actually, that is the funny thing about this one. The "family atmosphere" part of it. I have never had a problem taking my children to a hockey game in Buffalo. I would never take my kids to a game at the Ralph, well not for a few more years anyhow. IF the Sabres get past the Canes, I will have my kids there for Game 1. As X asked, I am curious as to how the Sabres fans in attendance behaved last night. I haven't heard any complaints about them yet. My guess is, the combination of this being a weeknight game (less chance of a 4,000 strong several hour long tailgate party) and the Canes winning would reduce the likelihood that anyone caused problems. My guess is, again not having been there, that ALL the Sabres fans at Game 1 were loud many had been tailgating and that ticked some Carolina fans off. The fact that there were a few handful that approached the game as a Bills game rather than a Sabres game probably made it seem like there were more bad apples than there were. I've also seen it mentioned that several Canes fans entered the game after tailgating for a while before the game as well and that several came in with chips on their shoulders due to the "poor way they were treated by management". Add that to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster. As I mentioned elsewhere, I have never seen the fans of the WINNING team start fights. I've seen some go over board on taunting, to incite fights, but 80%+ of the fights at stadiums / rinks that I have seen have been the result of fans cheering on the losing team getting frustrated that the #@$!#$@! over there won't shut up when his #@$@ team is getting lucky against our incredible team. Nearly all the rest occurred because that #@$@!$@! over there cheering on those lucky jerks spilled beer on me / my wife / sister / whatever and he'll pay @#$@!% for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewin Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Yes Steve - look at what I wrote. I have two toddlers and wouldn't think of bringing them to a hockey game. That's just common sense on my part. If you think a hockey crowd in Raleigh is tough, may I invite you to attend a NASCAR race in Charlotte with me? 696539[/snapback] You must not have looked at what I wrote because you completely missed my point. I do bring my kids to Hurricanes games - all the time (>15 this year) - and because of the normal civil nature of the home crowd, common sense on my part knows there will be no problem and we will have a great time without encountering numerous obnoxious obscene drunks. I've never once had a single problem - probably over 50 games over 6 years. As far as NASCAR - I'll pass on that since I have no interest in NASCAR, similar to the huge number of other transplants who live here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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