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Real classy, Rutgers
September 14, 2007
By now you have likely read about the horrible behavior, last week, of students at the State University of New Jersey, otherwise known as Rutgers.
But just in case you haven’t, I’ll very quickly fill you in: Rutgers last week hosted the Navy Midshipmen for a football game. As you may imagine, Rutgers—now, remarkably, not a bad football team—won rather handily.
The Scarlet Knights football team did themselves proud. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Rutgers student section.
Taking fan behavior to a new all-time low, these Rutgers meatheads cheered and chanted at the site of a Navy player suffering a minor injury (The chant? “You got f*cked up!”) and, even worse, began a section-wide chant of “’F*ck you Navy.”
Yes, they chanted: “F*ck you Navy.”
At a time when the United States, and the U.S. Navy, is at war.
These Rutgers dolts chanted "F*ck you Navy" even though those players out there for Navy would, within a couple years, be serving their country. More than likely, some of them will be shipped off to Iraq, or maybe Afghanistan. Quite possibly, some of them will die, serving their country.
“How anybody can root against a service academy when [graduates] are going to be asked to put their lives on the line? I don’t know how you can do that,” said Bill Squires, a 1975 Navy graduate who, as the school’s New Jersey recruiting coordinator, was on the sidelines at Rutgers. “It goes to show you the social changes taking place in our country. It’s not just Rutgers. It’s elsewhere throughout this country. But it wasn’t more plain and visible than what I saw Friday night.”
Squires is right, of course. Rutgers students are not alone, at least in theory. Fans across the country have long engaged in this kind of stupid behavior (though, again, "F*ck you Navy" did take crudeness to new heights), and I’ve never understood why.
I mean, really: Why treat visitors to your stadium like crap? Why taunt them? Why yell at them? Why throw things at them? It doesn’t make any sense.
Some of the best times I’ve had at Beaver Stadium have been the times spent tailgating with fans from opposing schools. I’ve shared beers with Michigan State fans and Nebraska fans, Cincinnati fans and even Miami fans. They were good people. As most people are.
Folks, I am not saying fans shouldn’t razz an opposing team. I’m not saying they shouldn’t scream their heads off, trying to intimidate a visiting squad. I’m not even opposed to booing an especially hated rival (though booing a service academy is blatantly wrong, under any circumstances). I am just saying that, as college football fans, we have an obligation to act with some measure of class—and we have an obligation, too, to treat our visitors with respect.
Let’s keep the trash, and the trashy behavior, where it belongs: In the NFL.
And, apparently, at Rutgers.
Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed
• I have a friend—a former TCFA Champion, actually—who once told me that a single recruit cannot make a difference in college football. In college basketball, he said, one player is capable of changing the future of an entire program. But in football, he claimed, one measly player can't change anything. I told him his argument was bunk, offering the following players as examples: Ron Dayne at Wisconsin; Eli Manning at Ole Miss; Drew Brees at Purdue. This friend remained skeptical. Well, now I offer up one more example: Washington quarterback Jake Locker. The freshman has single-handedly revived the Husky football program, leading his team to a stunning 2-0 start—with wins over Syracuse and Boise State—in advance of a huge matchup this weekend with Ohio State. At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Locker is a threat both passing and running—and, with all of that weight behind him, he's not exactly afraid of contact, either. The only worry in Seattle? Whether all of that punishment (in two games, Locker has been hit 26 times) will land him in the training room. But coach Ty "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me Was Being Fired By Notre Dame" Willingham says he's not concerned. Said Willingham: "We don't cringe on the sideline [when he's hit]. Any time you have an athletic quarterback, there are going to be shots. In some cases with Jake, he's going to give some shots, too." You think maybe that Buckeye defense is ready to get in some shots of their own?
• No matter what we do, folks, we cannot escape Jimmy Clausen. Even with the Irish struggling at 0-2, JCSPN (that's ESPN's new name, earned after everyone's favorite completely unethical sports network showed camera shots of Clausen's family in the stands approximately 8,000 times during his team's loss to Penn State last week; apparently, folks, Penn State players don't have families) can't help but stop talking about the Golden Boy quarterback who might, just might, help turn Notre Dame's program around. He'll certainly have a better chance at doing so this week, when the Irish travel to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan's reeling defense—in two games, the unit has given up 73 points. But Clausen won't be the only young gun playing on Saturday. With quarterback Chad Henne laid up with a knee injury, Michigan will start highly-touted freshman Ryan Mallet, a fireballier from Texas who, according to teammates, has a stronger arm than Henne. It does make for a compelling matchup. But, of course, there's always going to be one guy who takes it too far. This week, that guy was famed recruiting anlayst Tom Lemming, who has never been afraid to say something completely stupid. Asked this week to describe Clausen and Mallet, Lemming offered the following: "Mallett's arm strength is unbelievable. I compare him to Jeff George and Dan Marino. Clausen might be the better quarterback, though. When he's healthy he is the best precision passer I've seen. So it's like [Joe] Montana against Marino." Yes, folks, Lemming just compared two freshman quarterbacks who have never won a game to Joe Montana and Dan Marino. Bravo, Tom Lemming.
• Penn State Coach And Great Man Joseph Vincent Paterno was this week asked if he had any words of wisdom for Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who, as you may have heard, is "on the hot seat" after his once No. 5-ranked Wolverines have gotten off, basically, to the worst start in the history of Michigan football. Paterno, who just three years back was being pressured to step down himself, answered the question, as you may expect, with a great deal of class—and even got in a good shot at the Penn State officials who wanted him gone back in 2004. Said The Great Man: "Last week I was going to call Lloyd. If we weren't going to play him a week from now I probably would have called him and said, 'Lloyd, you've been a real credit to Michigan. The people that really understand who you are, what you've done, they'll be there if you need it.' I think most of us saw that interview that was on one of those Saturday night re-hashing of the games where he said, 'You know, I'm a tough guy.' And I talked to the staff the next day and I said, 'Guys, a couple years ago we were like this.' As a matter of fact, a couple of the guys that wanted me to retire were the first guys in the locker room after the Notre Dame game Saturday with big smiles on their faces, patting me on the back. Lloyd's a tough guy. He'll be fine. He's got some good football players. They've had some things that haven't gone his way. I think when it's all said and done, Lloyd Carr, he doesn't need me."
Quick Hits:
Straight And To The Point
• Speaking of Michigan …. Carr this week revealed that freshman Ryan Mallett suffered some “homesickness” issues when he enrolled at Michigan last January—issues that were compounded by the weather. Mallett, a Texas guy, wasn’t used to Ann Arbor winters. Said Carr: "He had some issues. It was very cold and snowy here. He had the adjustment of classes. He went through all the things typical freshmen do without the benefit of being around his freshman class. He went home at the end of the winter term and when he came back for the spring term he was a new guy."
• Coachspeak: Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer benched quarterback Sean Glennon this week, just days after the Hokies were steamrolled by LSU in Baton Rouge. Glennon will be replaced by dual-threat frshman quarterback Tyrod Taylor. But Beamer wants you to know that Glennon’s benching has nothing to do with Glennon. Said Beamer: "This is not a reflection on Sean. He's put so much into his preparation, and he's such a competitor. We just feel like with this football team and our offense, Tyrod fits our personnel better right now. This is not easy for us because Sean has put a lot in the program."
• I could be wrong, folks, but have you noticed how often Syracuse has been playing Big Ten teams lately? They’ve had Iowa the last couple years, are playing Illinois this week and, starting next year, have a series with Penn State, too. Is this, maybe, just maybe, a tryout of sorts? Are the Orange making their intentions known? Might they finally tear down that awful dome (snore), build an outdoor stadium and join a real conference? Hmmm.
• When Kentucky and Louisville get together this week, the Cardinals’ celebrated quarterback, Brian Brohm, won’t be the best quarterback on the field. That’s because Kentucky’s signalcaller, Andre Woodson, is the best player you’ve never heard of. The 6-foor-5, 230-poound Woodson threw for a whopping 3,515 yards and 31 touchdowns last year (and just seven interceptions)—at Kentucky!
• I am not much of a fan of Nebraska coach Bill Callahan (though, honestly, I cannot tell you why) but I did enjoy Callahan’s very Head Ball Coach-esque comment this week. Apparently Callahan was asked just one too many times about how good USC is (the Huskers host the Trojans this week in Lincoln), and he finally snapped. Said Callahan: “You know, I’m not here to be the recruiting salesman for USC football.” Bravo.
• In case you didn’t notice, folks, in two weeks of Big Ten play, both of the conference’s Defensive Players of Week have played linebacker for Penn State. Last week, the honor went to Dan Connor, of whom says Your Editor's Sister (according to a text message during last week's game): "Oh, Dan. How I love you." The previous week, the honor went to junior Sean Lee. No word on whether Your Editor's Sister loves Lee.